Don't get too heavy.  It's not a job interview.
~Unknown

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Isaac had been planning this evening for well over a week, and to say he wanted everything to go perfectly was a bit of an understatement.  Dates could be stressful enough, but he had been doing his best to downplay it.  The last thing he needed was to come on too strong and somehow manage to scare off Jacoba.   He had no intention of rushing her and so he had backed off during the busy holiday season.  Now, though, they were half way into January. 

The subject of there being something more between them than just friendship had come up before the holidays.  Her concerns had made him wonder if any of those she had been in a relationship with in the past had even bothered to plan actual dates.  There were some who seemed to think the whole concept of a date old fashion, but ever the gentleman he was determined to show her something a bit different when it came to relationships.

He had managed to find a restaurant that seemed to have the right sort of atmosphere.  It could be considered a ‘romantic’ spot without it all being overdone.  It wasn’t too fancy nor was it a casual spot.  It was quiet and seemed like a good mix, or at least he hoped it would be.

Work had been stressful since November, so to focus on something else was a welcome change.  He had also finally received a publication date for the book it seemed he had been working on for an eternity.  The month of March promised to be rather hectic, but that was still some time off.  He intended to stay focused on the present moment.

It was a relatively short walk from Diagon Alley to the restaurant in a nearby Muggle section of London.   While London still wasn’t exactly home to him, being in the city was starting to grow on him a bit more as the months went on.  It was just so different from his life a few years prior as a professor at the school.

“I’m glad the rain from this afternoon let up,” he said.  “I was considering the best way to change plans around if it didn’t.”  It was small talk, and as much as he hated making small talk he was doing his best to keep his nerves from surfacing.  “It might turn out to be a rather nice evening.”

He fought off a grimace at the lack of any sort of meaningful topics.  This was supposed to be a relatively low pressure first date…although apparently he wasn’t going to allow himself to follow that rule.  Reaching the restaurant, he held open the door for her.

"It did look pretty nasty out there," Jacoba conceded as she stepped into the restaurant.  The invitation to go on a date hadn't exactly surprise Jacoba.  Not, at least, in itself.  She knew Isaac well enough to know he was that kind of man.  Considerate.  Sweet.  Cordial.  That he'd extended such an invitation was no surprise at all.  And, it was also not really surprising that he'd extended the invitation to her.  It was the abstract concept that she, Jacoba Schlagenweit, was here on a formal, proper, courtship-type date that surprised her.  It was a pleasant surprise.  Very different than what she was used to in the past. 

It was rare that someone put thought and fore planning into such activities in the past. 

Once inside the nice warmth of the restaurant, Jacoba shrugged her coat from her shoulders and draped it over her arm.  "Luckily, I could hide away from the cold and wet most of the day."  That was the hidden benefit of working where one lived.  Or, of living where one worked. 

Jacoba looked over towards Isaac and smiled, warmly, before following the hostess to their table.  "Have you been here before?" Jacoba asked as she took her seat.  "Any recommendations?"

The hostess led them to a table near the window overlooking a rather quiet street.  There was a small voice in the back of his mind still wondering if this had been the right thing to do.  In November his admission that he had feelings for her had felt like they were a long time coming.  Yet that was almost two months ago and they were just now getting around to a proper date.  He cared about Jacoba and he was quite certain of his feelings for her, but her uncertainty gave him pause if he was being completely honest with himself.

"Last time I was here the prime rib was rather good," he said, pulling out the chair for Jacoba.

Once she was settled he took his spot across the table.  He felt like he was doing some sort of strange dance.  He couldn't stop being a gentleman, but there was a nagging voice constantly telling him not to come on too strong.  What he really needed at that moment was a drink.

Glancing over the menu he said, "I'm sorry it took so long to get to the point.  The holidays are always a bit hectic."

"Prime rib," Jacoba repeated with a grin as she peered over the menu.  "Where do you think that name came from?  Prime.  Is it meat that it's only divisible by itself?  Is it a designation of rank?  Did people sometime back there-"  Jacoba gestured vaguely over her shoulder as if the history of beef was somehow displayed on the sidewalk behind her.  "-elect a particular cut to the office of Prime Rib." 

Grinning, Jacoba rested her folded arms against the edge of the table and leaned towards Isaac.  "Is that what you're going for?" 

The younger woman shook her head, dismissing Isaac's apology.  "It's alright.  I spent most of the school holiday up in Cambridge.  Thankfully, Tilly didn't give me much grief for asking for the time off.  It was a bit - it all has been a bit too strange lately.  The holidays were all rather surreal."  She'd been glad to get back to London though it had been good to spend that time with her brother.  The offer of a date had been a welcome change of pace and, despite her bigger-picture doubts, she had looked forward to it. 

Especially given all the recent unexpected developments.  It was good to have someone close she could trust and talk to.  "I spent it in the company with a number of your former coworkers.  Tapendra, of course and Aileen Reid?  Seems my brother's got a thing for her sister."  Jacoba assumed all these names were familiar to Isaac.  Hogwarts seemed to be a rather small world.  "And, Ignan Storm?  Actually met over beers in Hogsmeade.  Amusing fellow."  Though, Jacoba could understand how students, her brother included, might not see him that way. 

"Were you able to get up North and see family?" Jacoba asked.  "Was that part of the holiday's hectic-ness?  Did you manage to get any relaxing in?"

Isaac smirked at her pondering of the name of the dish.  In the craziness of the holidays he had missed her sense of humor.  With a grin he answered, "Perhaps.  It's certainly more appealing then a rump steak.  I'm not sure what bloke thought that was a good name for it."

He nodded in recognition when she mentioned some of his former coworkers.  There were times he missed his former job and coworkers, but leaving Hogwarts was a bridge he had finally managed to cross.  The staff at Hogwarts had always been relatively small, which in hindsight he often missed.  It was easy to get lost among the mass of workers at the Ministry.  There one was just one of many.

"I'm not sure if I ever got to see the amusing side if Ignan," Isaac said.  "I honestly can't say he and I were terribly close."

"Were you able to get up North and see family?  Was that part of the holiday's hectic-ness?  Did you manage to get any relaxing in?"

"I managed to find a little time for relaxation here and there," he said.  "I spent quite a bit of the holiday with my mother and her family.  I thought it would be good to be around given this was her first Christmas without my father."  He had spent a great deal of the visiting with her obsessing over his life...his job, the new book, any possible romantic interests..."Work has also been...stressful.  So, it was nice to have a little time away."

Dree was still missing, which meant Isaac had been trying to hold the department together.  It meant a lot of responsibility he had not initially signed on for, and the worry over whether or not they would find the other man.  There was part of him that wondered just how long he and his coworkers could keep everything running.

"I'm afraid as a topic of conversation though my holiday was a bit boring," he told her.

"More appealing than a rump steak?" Jacoba repeated, glancing up from her menu and across the table with an unmistakably coy grin.  Come to think of it, who would have suspected cuts of meat had so much fodder for amusing conversation?  "Is that so?  I take it you're not a rump steak man?  What about a skirt steak?" 

Perhaps such suggestive cattiness wasn't the best of routes at this stage of things but, in many ways, it was what came easiest to the younger woman.  She liked Isaac, quite a bit.  He was warm, funny, caring and humble.  He'd always treated her with respect and, throughout all the chaos and uncertainty of the last year and a half, had always been a source of reliable consistency.  She was well aware how unlikely it was she'd find anyone better.  But, the casual and coy flirting was what was easiest because it was what was most familiar.  She'd tried to let her guard down once before and trust in someone else on a deeper level and it had ended roughly.  And had hurt all the more because of it.

But, she hoped there was time to figure that out.  This was all still so very new.  With a warm smile, Jacoba set her menu down and settled back into her chair.  "I suppose that isn't uncommon from what I can gather," Jacoba remarked.  The Defense Professor's amusing side did seem a bit subtle - harder to uncover.  Of course, Jacoba had ended up meeting the man under rather unique circumstances.  "Between you and me, it appears as though he's family." 

"How did it go?" Jacoba asked, in regards to the first Christmas after the loss of Isaac's father.  Jacoba could only imagine how that might have tinted the holiday feel.  Her own holiday had felt strange enough after the loss of her family and she rarely looked back on her own memories with any sense of nostalgia. 

Jacoba shook her head, offering a sympathetic smile.  "Sometimes boring is welcome, especially if it has been stressful." 

"Is that so?  I take it you're not a rump steak man?  What about a skirt steak?" 

And with that the all too familiar blushing seemed to start.  He had really been doing so well up to this point.  She had the effect on him, and they were both aware of it.  Once the blushing started it usually also meant an end to witty comebacks as well...not that any of them would be terribly appropriate during a first date.  After a minute he had managed to regain control of the color of his cheeks.

"How did it go?"

"Better then I expected, I suppose," he said.  "We all had our somber moments, but there was enough distraction from my extended family.  It's just always a bit strange for me though.  Most of them don't know about wizards and witches.  It's not like I'm not used to having to be careful of what I say and do among Muggles given my career path...I think it's just having to pretend for family.  You would think after all this time I'd be used to it."

Noticing the waitress approaching for their orders he let the subject drop for the moment, adopting his usual ladies first demeanor with everything...including ordering a meal.

There was only time for warm, sympathetic smile before the waitress arrived at their table.  After another last, quick survey of the menu (just in case something had been hiding), Jacoba closed the menu and handed it the young woman.  "I'll have the salmon with a salad."  She waited for Isaac to place his order with a sly, all-too-curious grin on her face, almost silently daring him to order any sort of marginally provocatively named cut of steak. 

Once the waitress had moved on, Jacoba turned back to the previous conversation.  "I don't think that's something you ever get used to," Jacoba offered, kindly.  "Not that I'd know from personal experience.  I'm hardly an expect on family matters but, if you can't be completely yourself to your family, who can you be yourself to?  Even I had a hard enough time going back and I've only been here a year.  And, I wasn't even around family."

At least, that's what she understood.  "I was never fully myself around family, but it was always intentional.  I didn't want to be.  Would you tell them, if you could?  What do you think they'd say?  Or do?"