“Happy Halloween!” Ariella exclaimed as she bounced to breakfast with a wide grin. Remus smiled at her as Severus rolled his eyes. Halloween was one of Ariella’s favorite holidays besides Christmas and St. Patrick’s Day. Out of pure festiveness, Ariella donned a pair of cat ears and whiskers. Her lion’s tail swung behind her with ease. Minerva commented on her outfit, but seemed to enjoy her appearance. Albus smiled as he ate a random candy that appeared in front of him.
“Morning, Elle. Happy Halloween,” Remus greeted cheerfully. Ariella noticed his pallid appearance.
“Remus, are you alright?”
“I’m fine, Elle. I’m just tired, that’s all,” Remus replied. Ariella nodded, knowing he didn’t want her to worry about him.
“Alrighty. Well I feel I should warn you both. I will prank someone today. Now it may be one of you or it could be the students,” Ariella remarked as she picked up a pumpkin tart and bit into it happily. Remus shook his head at the thought as Severus frowned.
“Cross, pranks are highly…”
“You tell me not to do it, and so help me Merlin, I will prank you so hard,” Ariella warned as Remus chuckled.
“I would listen to her. Ariella has always been very serious when it comes to her pranks,” Remus commented as Albus looked down toward the blonde woman.
“Miss Ella, one of the aurors has found your wand and I feel it should be returned to you,” he announced as Ariella’s face lit up.
“Really? They found it! Great!” She exclaimed excitedly as she easily withdrew it from underneath the table. She hugged it to her chest. Severus and Remus looked at the blonde with expressions of mild relief. They both felt better knowing Ariella had her wand back.
“My pranks will be even more awesome!” She remarked as she grinned wildly. Remus sighed in defeat. Severus frowned at the implication.
“Elle, Peeves isn’t helping you is he?”
“Ariella you aren’t instigating that horrid little man are you?” Minerva quipped as she turned to look at the younger woman. Ariella shrugged as she still grinned.
“You’ll have to wait and see, now won’t you?”
**
“No Hogsmeade? Shame,” Ariella remarked as she stood beside Harry. Harry turned to her with a frown.
“Can’t you give me permission, Professor?”
“I could, but I’m not going to. It’s because I care that I’m making you miserable, I promise,” Ariella replied with a soft smile. Remus appeared at her side.
“Don’t worry, Elle. Mr. Potter and I had a nice tea planned for today,” Remus announced as Ariella grinned.
“That’s great. See, Harry? Aren’t you always asking about your parents and their schooldays? Professor Lupin was right there in the throe of it all,” Ariella gushed. Harry’s frown lessened as he thought of all of his questions being answered. Ariella ruffled his hair before bouncing away.
“Have fun, you two!” She remarked as she disappeared down an adjacent hallway.
“Smelly Elly! Smelly Elly!” Peeves appeared from behind a portrait and bounced in front of the blonde.
“Peeves, is it set?” She asked as she smiled. The often times obnoxious ghost nodded his head. Ariella smirked.
“Wonderful. To your position, soldier!” She ordered jokingly. Peeves grinned and saluted Ariella before disappearing with a soft pop. Ariella giggled giddily. As she turned another corner she caught sight of her first victims. A group of first and second year hufflepuffs were on their way to the lakeside and had unsuspectingly walked into Ariella’s prank trap.
“Hello, students!” She greeted with a smile. They smiled, but before they could return their greetings, Peeves soared over their heads and dumped invisible ink all over them. Ariella instantly withdrew her wand and fixed everything but a certain part of them. As part of her prank, she left invisible ink streaks in their hair and some on their robes. She wouldn’t reveal her whole plot until almost the entire student body had been pranked. After leaving that group alone with a warning to avoid Peeves on Halloween, she walked to the dungeons. She didn’t even knock on Severus’s office door before just walking in. Severus looked up with a scowl.
“Cross, I should’ve known,” he drawled. Ariella grinned.
“Nice to see you too, Snape. Come on. Our date is starting right about…now!” Ariella walked across the room and pulled Severus to his feet. He quirked an eyebrow before sighing in defeat. He followed the bouncing blonde out of his office and into the hallways.
“Where are we going, Cross?”
“In good time, Snark. In good time,” Ariella answered cryptically. Severus rolled his eyes and settled on watching Ariella. Her cat ears twitched as her tail swung back and forth as she walked. Her blonde curls were held back by a pair of Gryffindor clips that Severus figured she had designed herself. He noticed she was wearing her “lucky” boots underneath her blue dress. He was so busy studying his colleague he didn’t pay attention to his surroundings until they stopped in front of a painting of a fruit bowl. Severus frowned as he recognized the portrait. Ariella easily tickled the pear and led him to the kitchens. She gracefully avoided several house-elves scurrying around them.
“Missus Ella!” A female house-elf called out as Ariella grinned and waved.
“Trixie! Is everything ready?” She asked as the house-elf nodded excitedly. Snape quirked an eyebrow at the exchange before the house-elf led the pair to a kitchen separate from the main kitchens.
“Here you are, Missus. It has everything you asked for,” Trixie the house-elf remarked as she grinned toothily at the blonde.
“Wonderful. Thank you so much, Trixie,” Ariella easily hugged the small creature before it left them alone. Severus looked around, confused.
“Alright, so what do you want for lunch? I can cook almost anything,” Ariella asked as she turned to her companion with a bright smile.
“You can cook?” Severus asked, genuinely surprised. Most pureblood witches with house-elves didn’t learn to cook.
“Yeah. I don’t like to let others help me,” Ariella shrugged as she turned to head toward the storeroom. When she returned she had 2 skinned chicken breasts, spaghetti noodles, and some tomatoes. A trail of spices followed her as well. Severus quirked an eyebrow at the whole picture.
“So…chicken parmigiana sound good to you? My grandmother used to make the best I’ve ever tasted,” Ariella’s voice was smooth as she set the ingredients down on the counter next to her. Severus could only nod his head as he watched her set to work to make their lunch. He was surprised by her skills in the kitchen. It seemed she knew exactly what she was doing. He wanted to scoff at the thought. It was a rare scenario if he ever found anything that Ariella did not do flawlessly. It was as if she were created to be perfect. Lunch went by as smoothly as possible and few words were exchanged. Not because the two had nothing to talk about, but because Severus was so completely stunned by the taste of the food he kept putting into his mouth.
“Is it good?” Ariella asked as she watched Severus practically shove the food down his throat. Okay, maybe not shove, she mentally conceded.
“Yes,” was all Severus said and Ariella giggled before turning back to her own plate. When the two had finished, the same house-elf that had led them to this separate part of the kitchen returned to take away the dishes.
“Are you pleased Missus Ella?” The small creature asked with a toothy grin as Ariella bent down and patted her head gently.
“Yes. Thank you, Trixie. We’ll be going now, alright?” Ariella smiled softly as Trixie the house-elf nodded. Severus was still confused by the familiarity between the blonde woman and the small house-elf, but he was quiet as Ariella led him out of the bustling kitchens.
“Alrighty, so what do you want to do now, Snark?” Ariella asked as she practically skipped at his side. Severus frowned at the question. In all honesty, he had never been on a date to know what was appropriate. However his inexperience went unnoticed as Ariella gasped and turned to him suddenly with a look of pure elation.
“You wanna help me read notes I’ve confiscated that are written in invisible ink?” She asked excitedly. Severus quirked an eyebrow at the question.
“Confiscated notes?”
“Yep! I took them from a couple of Slytherin fifth years!” She explained as Severus mentally sighed before nodding.
“Yes, Cross,” he agreed as Ariella grinned wildly. She giggled giddlily as she led Severus to her office on the third floor.