The morning came swiftly as Ariella grinned wildly. Severus frowned as she sat next to him at breakfast.
“Why are you so happy?” He asked sullenly as Ariella turned to him.
“Today is Valentine’s Day! I can have chocolate without feeling guilty about it,” she replied with a smile. Severus felt heat rise to his cheeks as he turned away from her. Tiny little hearts hung in the air and the students seemed to be just as excited as the blonde professors. Lockhart was practically bouncing in his seat as he looked down the table to Ariella.
“Ariella,” Albus came up behind the woman and she smiled at him.
“Albus!” She exclaimed as he produced a small bag of Honeyduke’s chocolates.
“Ah, thank you!” Ariella smiled brightly as Severus watched the two hug. She turned to him with a smile.
“See? I always get chocolates!” She spoke happily as she popped one of the small confections into her mouth. Severus shook his head as he turned back to his breakfast. And then just like Albus had done, several other teachers stopped to give the blonde sweet confections. Severus had never seen them give one another anything on Valentine’s Day. Christmas was another story all together, but they seemed to line up to give Ariella chocolates. He suddenly felt stupid. However his stupidity melted away as Ariella turned to him with a smile and offered him an unwrapped chocolate frog. He shook his head and she shrugged. She bit the sweet in two just as the bell for class rung.
“So, Snape, did you, you know, finish that love potion before you gave to Lockhart?” Ariella asked as they walked out of the Great Hall. Severus shook his head curtly.
“No, I left it for him to do the rest,” He answered as Ariella frowned.
“He wouldn’t happen to tell you who the potion’s for would he?” She questioned as Snape paused to look at her.
“No,” he responded before realization spread across his features.
“Has he given you any chocolates?” He remarked as Ariella shook her head.
“Nope. I got some from Minerva, Filius, Albus, Pomona, Poppy, and Hagrid. None from Lockhart, or you.” She muttered. Severus chuckled as they came upon the staircase where they would separate.
“So I shouldn’t eat anything from Lockhart, then?” She asked as Severus turned to walk away. He chuckled as he turned back to her. He noticed Lockhart coming up the stairs and he did something that he would hate himself for later. He pulled Ariella against him and kissed her tenderly on her forehead. Ariella stared at him in surprise as they parted.
“Severus,” She gasped as he turned to leave.
“Lockhart’s coming,” he answered curtly as Ariella turned just in time to catch the blonde man staring in jealousy.
“Gilderoy,” she exclaimed in surprise as the blonde man grinned wildly.
“Ariella, my dearest, do you know what today is?” He asked as she frowned before nodding.
“Yes, it’s the 14th. Valentine’s Day. It’s also the day that Godric Gryffindor first began to forge the Blade of Gryffindor,” she informed him as Lockhart paused before nodding.
“It is indeed the day of love, and this my darling is for the greatest love,” He remarked as he pushed a neatly wrapped present into her hands, complete with floating hearts and singing, little cupids. Ariella quirked her eyebrow at the gift.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” She asked as Gilderoy frowned.
“No, wait, ah yes! Flowers!” The blonde easily conjured a large bouquet of flowers before snapping his fingers and a small troll dressed as a cupid appeared in between them.
“Help my dearest Ariella carry her gifts to her classroom,” He ordered as Ariella frowned.
“Gilderoy, while I appreciate the gesture, I am married,” she reminded the blonde as he waved it off.
“Love knows no laws or boundaries,” he remarked before turning to leave.
“Obviously,” Ariella snarled as she stomped all the way to her classroom. Her second years chattered excitedly until she walked into the room, scowling.
“Arrogant, pompous, idiot!” She snarled aloud before she realized where she was.
“Ah! Class, sorry I’m late. I had a run-in with our darks arts professor. As you can see,” she motioned to the extravagant gifts she carried and the small troll before continuing.
“He’s gone all out for the holiday, so beware.” She warned as Harry and his friends stared horrified the gift. Ariella set the present carefully on her desk and drew her wand as the troll like creature scurried out of the room.
“Alright, the lesson today will be, the history of unrequited love, can anyone name a pair of lovers where the love was unrequited?” She asked as she flicked her wrist and the present unwrapped itself. Hearts leapt from the inside and made kissing sounds as they spread through the room.
“Yes, Miss Grainger?” Ariella poked a heart with her wand and watched it pop.
“There was a muggle story, that my parents told me, Romeo and Juliet?” She answered as Ariella smiled.
“I’m aware of that story, but I fear it was not unrequited love. It was lust, however you are on the right track.” She remarked as the students joined in with popping the hearts that floated around the room.
“One of the most famous stories of unrequited love happened right here in these very halls,” Ariella began as the students leaned in to listen to her story.
“It was a triangle as so many great love stories are. Godric Gryffindor met a woman by the name of Ariella. She was a beautiful creature with amethyst eyes and golden curls. She was a witch, but she didn’t know who her family was,” Ariella paused in her story as Seamus Finnegan raised his hand.
“Mr. Finnegan?” She quirked an eyebrow in the boy’s direction as he frowned.
“This woman sounds an awful lot like you, Professor Cross. Are you sure this happened?” He questioned as Harry turned to her with hopeful eyes. Ariella smiled before nodding her head.
“Yes, I’m quite sure. I was named after Ariella for a good reason. As you can see, I look like her,” She informed the awe-struck second years. She continued her story.
“Godric fell madly in love with Ariella, but she did not love him. She loved a dear friend of his, Salazar Slytherin. Salazar was angry with Godric over how the school was being run, and he wanted to get revenge. So he fooled Ariella into marrying him,” Ariella paused as she saw most of the students on the edge of their seats. Ronald Weasley frowned.
“What happened after that, professor?” He asked as Harry nodded from beside him. Ariella sighed before she flicked her wand to showcase the scene. The class watched in wonder as their classroom was transformed into an old library. Two figures stood in front of each other. The students easily recognized the figures as Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor. Ariella stood to the side as a woman walked into the library, almost her identical twin. The only difference had been her cheeks and jawline, but only few could see it.
“Godric confronted Salazar about his trickery and Ariella learned of it. While Salazar did not love the woman as Godric did, he couldn’t bear to hurt her. You see, Ariella had been everything Salazar needed. A wife, a friend, and a mate. He respected her, but he didn’t love her,” Ariella paused as she heard knocking. The class groaned at the distraction as Ariella giggled before answering the door.
“Professor Snape?” She asked in confusion as he strutted into the classroom, livid. His fury paused when he noticed that he had interrupted a lesson, a very in-depth lesson, he noted sourly.
“Just sit in the back there. I’m almost finished,” Ariella announced quietly when she saw he had not meant to interrupt her class. Many of the students glared at him before turning their attention back to the blonde.
“Ok, where was I? Oh yes! Salazar confessed to Ariella about how he had tricked her to marry him to make Godric angry. When she asked him why, he turned to her and said,” The class watched as Salazar dropped to his knees in front of the woman.
“Because, my dear fairy, he has loved you since he first set eyes on you. Everyone has known and we assumed you did as well,” Salazar’s words were fluid and Severus sat just as enraptured by the story as the students were.
“Ariella was shocked and had fled from Salazar. She had banged on Godric’s door, demanding he answer it. When he did, she asked him if he loved her, and of course, he said,” Ariella paused the story as she noticed Severus’s eyes trained on the scene.
“Professor Cross!” A hufflepuff girl exclaimed in annoyance as Ariella giggled before continuing.
“Right, I apologize. Godric told Ariella that he had loved her, but he did no longer.” She announced as the class stared at her with wide eyes and open mouths.
“He said what?” Seamus Finnegan shouted as he climbed to his feet. Dean Thomas and a few others nodded and vocalized their confusion.
“Why would he do that?” Harry asked as Ariella smiled sadly.
“Ariella was already pregnant with Salazar’s heir. Godric loved her so much that he couldn’t cause her anymore grief or confusion. He let her go and she returned to Salazar, where she lived out the remainder of her days as a happy mother of three and a loving wife.” Ariella finished as a few girls sniffled and the guys groaned.
“If I had been Godric, I would’ve kicked Salazar on his arse!” Seamus announced as a Slytherin scoffed in his direction.
“Salazar deserved the girl. He wasn’t diluting blood-lines.” Draco Malfoy answered as Ariella frowned.
“Did you know that, while Salazar did not want to teach muggle borns or half-bloods, he married a half-blood? Ariella turned out later to come from a wizard and muggle,” Ariella informed the children as Malfoy frowned.
“Blood lines do not determine the strength of the magic in a person, but rather the magic determines the strength in the person?” She asked as the students stared at her. Suddenly the air erupted with the sounds of the bell ringing and the students piled out. Most of the girls had whimsical sighs on their faces while the boys were all groaning about how they would’ve handled it differently. Ariella sighed before she turned to the stunned Potions Master.
“How did you know about all that?” He asked as Ariella shrugged.
“My mom told me the story when I was little. She told me I was named after the Ariella Godric loved,” She replied. Severus frowned.
“Was your mother a Gryffindor?” He questioned as Ariella tilted her head to the side.
“Yeah, my dad was a Ravenclaw.” She answered easily. Ariella smiled before dissolving the scene with a swish of her wand.
“What did you storm into my classroom for anyways?” She asked as she popped the final heart and confetti spread everywhere. She growled to herself burning the glittering pieces of paper that floated in the air around her.
“Lockhart came to my office sprouting some nonsense about how he had won and you now were choosing him as your husband,” Severus snarled as Ariella began to laugh. Severus frowned.
“This isn’t funny, Cross!” He exclaimed as Ariella picked up the pink bag full of sweets. Severus eyed it in confusion.
“I haven’t eaten any of the sweets he’s given me, Snape. Relax, ok?” She responded with a giggle. Severus stared at her; shock spread across his countenance. He had known better than to believe that blonde half-wit, but the thought of losing Ariella had been so…crippling. He had to make sure. Suddenly the shock changed to realization as he watched Ariella set each piece of candy on fire individually. He realized that he, Severus Tobias Snape, cared about the infuriating, stubborn blonde in front of him. As realization dawned on his features, mischief spread across his companion’s.
“Hey Snape, you wanna play a trick on Lockhart?” She asked mysteriously.
“Ariella, my sweet?” Lockhart arrogantly strutted into Ariella’s office later that night. Ariella appeared from under her desk as Gilderoy grinned wildly.
“I’ve come for you!” He announced as Ariella jumped to her feet and squealed in excitement.
“Are you my darling Severus?” She asked whimsically as Gilderoy’s eyes widened. He searched her office and found a package of chocolate surrounded by green and silver wrapping.
“No, no dearest. I am Gilderoy, the love of your life?” He answered confused as Ariella shook her head vehemently.
“No, the love of my life is Severus Snape and you are not him!” She screeched as Gilderoy frowned.
“Ariella, sweetest, did you eat the candy in the pink wrappers?” He asked as Ariella nodded.
“Yes, and I thought I loved you, but then my dear Severus surprised me with some more chocolates, and let’s say my heart belongs to him,” Ariella responded with a thoughtful sigh. Gilderoy’s face fell in horror as his plan backfired quickly.
“Why would he give you chocolates? He doesn’t like you!” Gilderoy shouted hurtfully as Ariella paused in her acting to listen to his words. She feigned disbelief, but in her heart, she knew what he spoke was true.
“He told me himself, Ariella! He called you a conceited idiot who has no right to teach at this distinguished school!” Gilderoy continued as Ariella stopped fully. Her disbelief slowly transformed into sorrow.
“You must love me instead! I would never say such things about you! You are a precious jewel who should be cherished, not slandered!”
“He really called me a conceited idiot?” Ariella interrupted as Gilderoy nodded. Suddenly Severus burst into the room with a look of dread across his countenance. Ariella turned to him with tears puddled in her eyes and Gilderoy looked smug. Severus paused when he saw Ariella’s pain.
“Cross, what’s happened?” He asked, concern ripping away at his innards. He didn’t have time to think about how far he’d fallen as Ariella slammed her open palm against his face.
“Don’t come near me, ever again!” She snarled before running from the room. Severus stood there, frozen.
“Oooh looks like your marriage is over, Professor.” Gilderoy mentioned smugly until Severus crushed his fist into the pretty blonde man’s mouth. Gilderoy landed roughly on the stone floor as Severus turned and ran after Ariella. He didn’t question why he was running after the absurd blonde woman who had done nothing but create trouble for him, but he was.
“Cross!” He called out as he finally caught up to her. He grabbed her by the elbow and forced her to face him. Tears streaked down her cheeks as she fought against his hold.
“What did he say to you? Cross, what did he say?” He asked as he held her firmly with two hands. Ariella struggled as she sniffled.
“You called me a conceited idiot! You told him I didn’t have a right to be here!” She exclaimed as Severus stared at her.
“I never said any of those things!” He answered as she shook her head, refusing to believe him. He shook her gently, forcing her to face him.
“Cross, I swear to you , I never said that. Everything I’ve ever said to you, I’ve said to everyone else. You’re absurd, unorthodox, and slightly psychotic. However you are an expert in your field and you have every right to be here,” his voice sunk as Ariella’s eyes widened. She stared at him for a moment in shock before launching herself at his form. Severus stumbled before straightening out as he looked down in confusion.
“That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me! I thought you were going to be mean, but you’re weren't!”