Serendipity [Book 2]

It's Halloween! [Pt. 1]

“I have no doubt that whatever happened to that boy was a consequence of his own foolishness,”  she remarked as Severus turned his glare onto her.

“Besides what could’ve attacked that twit now? Hasn’t he already accused Buckbeak? What now? A blast-ended skrewt?” She asked as she turned to Hagrid, who looked extremely guilty.

“Was it a blast-ended skrewt?”

“’Riella, its ‘armless,” Hagrid explained as Ariella sighed. She patted the larger man’s arm reassuringly.

“Hagrid, perhaps, you and I should come up with a relatively safe curriculum together?” She suggested as Hagrid looked forlorn before nodding to agree with her. After all, Ariella was one of the only other people he knew who cared for all animals just like he did.

“Come along, Hagrid. Severus can take care of Mr. Malfoy,” She commented as Albus smiled and nodded. Ariella was incredibly good at diffusing difficult situations, as long as they didn’t personally involve her. Severus sneered at the blonde as she left with the half-giant.

“You musn’t be too hard on yourself, Hagrid. I have no doubt that Draco Malfoy didn’t deserve every injury he’s received in your class,” Ariella reassured with a soft smile. Hagrid smirked before he guffawed.

“Elle!” Remus called out as he saw the woman exiting the castle with the Gamekeeper. Both adults turned to the werewolf with a smile.

“Hey, Remus! What do you need?” Ariella asked, still smiling. Remus greeted Hagrid before turning to the blonde.

“You’re not mad at me are you, Elle?” He asked. Ariella looked confused for a second before quickly shaking her head.

“Of course not, Remus. You were just looking out for me. I’ll be fine, I swear,” Ariella reassured her friend just as the bell for the next class rung.  Remus nodded and turned to go back to his own class as Ariella escorted Hagrid to his cabin.

**

“As you can imagine, the giant wars created quite a bit of chaos for the wizarding world.  In fact, its believed that the giant wars started the witch trials of the 1200s in Europe,” Ariella explained as her eyes swept across the class. The Gryffindors sat on her right side while the Slytherins sat on her left. Draco Malfoy sat in the middle row with his arm resting in a sling and a bandage across his neck. He smirked as someone else wrote his notes for him. Harry sat between Hermione and Ron and shot glares toward the blonde every chance he got.

“Can anyone tell me who ended the giant wars?” She asked as she looked around. As usual, Hermione’s hand shot up. Ariella smiled but decided to call on the Malfoy heir.

“Mr. Malfoy, how about you answer this one?” Ariella suggested with a smug look. It never got old that she had total control over the Malfoy boy. If she wanted she could easily make his life miserable and his father could do nothing about it, but she chose not to. After all, it had been his father that had hurt her, not the son.

“I don’t know,” he grunted as he shifted to show his injuries. Ariella shook her head.

“Perhaps you should read your notes,” Ariella commented before deducting ten points from Slytherin. She turned to Hermione whose hand was still in the air. The Gryffindor girl answered the question just as the bell rang.  The students gathered their things quickly as Ariella handed out homework. Harry stayed after all of the other students as Ariella smiled at him.

“Yes, Harry?” She asked as the last student left.

“Are you and Professor Lupin friends?” He questioned suddenly as Ariella giggled.

“Yes. We have been since our days at Hogwarts,” she answered honestly.

“So he knew my parents too?”

“Indeed.  He was one of your father’s groomsmen. Why?” She inquired. She was curious about why Harry was so interested in Remus’s ties to his parents. She had figured that the man would have blabbed all of his secrets to the young boy. After all, he was almost a spitting image of James. It took a lot of her will power not to get the two of them confused at times.

“I was just wondering, Professor.  I should get going,” Harry commented as he turned to leave.

“You know, you sound an awful lot like your father when he was planning something sneaky,” Ariella remarked as Harry turned to her, looking slightly guilty.

“And remember no Hogmeade next weekend,” she finished as Harry nodded and left the blonde alone. Ariella sighed. A slow knock on her door distracted her as Severus walked into her classroom.

“Oh, hello,” Ariella greeted as she brushed her curls away from her face. Severus frowned as he closed the doors behind him.

“You look unhappy. Is it because of earlier?” Ariella commented as Severus stopped in front of her. She folded her arms across her chest as she waited for him to say anything.

“Hogsmeade,” was the only word that left his mouth.

“Yes? That’s next weekend,” Ariella replied, unsure of why he had even mentioned the village.

“Our…date,” Severus continued. Ariella gasped in remembrance.

“Oh! Oh! Oh, Merlin! I was about to hit you over the head with my textbook. You want to know what we’re doing for our date?” She asked. Severus nodded as he furrowed his eyebrows together.

“Um…I know! How about I whip us up something delicious and we just talk? Hell, we’ll even eat in the dungeon!,” Ariella suggested as Severus relaxed slightly. He would never know how Ariella understood what he needed. She knew he didn’t want to go somewhere very public and she knew none of the students would venture to the dungeons looking for him.

“Cross, about earlier,” He began as Ariella smiled at him.

“It’s fine. I know you’re worried about your students. Besides,” Ariella smirked as she moved closer to the stoic man.

“It was kind of cute,” she commented as she leaned up and kissed him gently on the cheek. Severus stared at her for a second before bending down and capturing her lips with his. Ariella easily ensnared her fingers in his ebony tresses. It seemed easier to give into him when she knew they were going on a date, even if no one saw it.

“Severus, do you have any family?” Ariella asked suddenly as she pulled away. Severus stared at her before shaking his head curtly.

“No,” he answered darkly. Ariella nodded understandingly before smiling.

“Well, too bad. Guess I can’t trick you for Halloween,”  she commented as she turned back to her blackboard. Severus was surprised to see that even without her wand, Ariella was managing fairly well. With a simple wave of her hand, Ariella changed the notes from Giant Wars to Witch Hysteria of the 16th Century.

“The aurors haven’t recovered your wand?”

“Nope. I’m ok without it for now. I just can’t leave the castle,” Ariella replied easily with a shrug of her thin shoulders. Severus frowned at the thought. He knew Ariella loved Hogwarts but she craved the outdoors.

“Cross are you happy with that choice?” Severus asked as he moved closer to the blonde. Ariella turned to him with a soft smile.

“Of course. I have you, Remus and Harry to occupy my time. Besides, I can still go out into the courtyard, can’t I?”