Serendipity [Book 2]

Revelations [Pt. 1]

Dinnertime was an awkward affair. Ariella sat in her usual spot between Remus and Severus. Remus glanced at her out of the corner of his eye as Severus did the same.

“Hey Elle,” Remus greeted with a soft smile. Ariella smiled and turned toward him.

“Hey Remus,” She responded quietly. Severus scowled down at his food as he watched the interaction between the two adults next to him. 

“How are you feelin’?” Remus asked as he noticed Severus watching them with a scowl.  He didn’t know what to make of it, but he knew Ariella was at the center of it.

“I’m fine. I promise. You have to stop worrying about me,” Ariella replied gently as she tucked a stray curl behind her ear. Severus watched the movement and longed to do the same. He quickly shook himself of the notion.

“It’s what I do, Elle. I worry,” Remus joked as Ariella giggled softly. The relationship between the two of them was easy going, Severus thought sourly. He had never seen them fight, which is all he and the blonde woman had ever done.

“Yeah, I know.  So Snark,” Ariella turned to Severus with a soft smile. Snape was caught off guard and his fork clattered onto his plate unceremoniously.  Ariella tilted her head to the side as Remus frowned from beside her.

“I think we need to talk,” She announced as Snape turned to her in surprise. Her amethyst eyes hid nothing from him. She was curious. No doubt, she’d want an explanation for this morning.

“We can talk in your office, if you want,” she offered as Remus’s frown deepened. Severus caught his reaction. It was obvious the werewolf didn’t want the Potions Master and Ariella to talk alone for any length of time. While Snape understood this to be jealousy, it was actually worry on Remus’s part. He had seen Ariella the last time she fell in love. She had ended up broken because of it. He wasn’t all that keen to watch it happen again, especially not because of the Slytherin Head of House.  Snape nodded and went back to his food as Ariella sighed.

“ ‘Riella?” Ariella turned down the table to Hagrid who smiled at her. She smiled in return.

“Yes, Hagrid?” She asked as he used his giant hand to brush his hair away from his face. Ariella had always been particularly fond of Hagrid.

“I was jus’ wonderin’ if ya want’d to come visit Buckbeak,” He offered. Ariella smiled softly. She could hear the pain in the larger man’s voice. Earlier in the year, Buckbeak had innocently reared up and kicked Draco Malfoy. Severus and Ariella had gotten into a massive argument over the entire situation. Snape had defended Malfoy and Ariella had defended Buckbeak.

“I would love to, Hagrid. You know I would,” She replied with a soft smile. Hagrid grinned before turning back to his food. Snape scowled as Remus rolled his eyes.

“I’m surprise the hippogriffs don’t rear up at you, Elle. You’re a predator,” Remus joked as Ariella giggled.

“Only when I transform,” She responded flippantly. Severus quirked an eyebrow at the exchange. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t know what Ariella transformed into.  He had known she was an animagi since he almost killed her at Halloween of the previous year. He scowled at the memory.  

“Wanna come with me, Snark? It’ll give us time to talk,” Ariella offered as she turned to the Potions Master. Snape turned to look at her before nodding curtly. The rest of dinner was spent in silence for Snape. Ariella and Remus discussed the Bogart the werewolf planned to expose to the class.

“I kinda wanna be in your class for that, Remus. I wanna see what it’d turn into for me,” She remarked, genuinely curious. Remus chuckled before nodding his head.  He encouraged the blonde to come during the third year’s class when she had a free period. She agreed and soon the bell rung, signaling the end of dinner. Ariella easily caught up to Hagrid and told him that she’d be along soon before she returned to Remus’s side.