Kevin was in an unusually good mood, despite the bone-chilling temperature of the air around him.  He had closed a case fairly early in the morning and took it upon himself to take the rest of the day off, as congratulations for his first closed case back in the London Ministry.  He had also been looking forward to seeing Ana; it had been years since their last face-to-face interaction. 

Unfortunately, by leaving work early, it left Kevin quite bored in fierce anticipation of his 'date'.  "Can I really even call it that?" He had pondered as he changed clothes for the seventh time.  Though, when he finally exhausted all clothing possibilities, he forced himself out of the house.  It was still only 2 in the afternoon, and his date wasn't technically for another five hours; Kevin shrugged at the thought and took off for the Snark manor.  He knew Ana would likely be quite irritated with him--she used to hate it when he was anything but exactly on time--but he didn't care.  He couldn't stand to sit around his home anymore.

He made it to the path leading up to the door when he finally noticed that he was not the only one on the manor's grounds.  Kevin paused and watched as someone knocked at the door.  Kevin ducked behind some trees and watched as just moments later, Analiza Snark appeared at the door.  His stomach knotted for a brief moment--at first, out of excitement for seeing her again for the first time in years.  Then, the knot turned into something else as he watched the man kiss Ana...and Ana did not curse him into oblivion. 


....5 hours later.....


Kevin had gone home with a knot permanently lodged in his throat.  He wasn't angry, he wasn't sad...he just felt extremely foolish.  How had he allowed himself to think that this date...that seeing her again would be something?  Instead of seeing her, he had sat at home, on his sofa, drinking firewhiskey for most of the afternoon; all the while, he had to think about what he was doing with her.

When the time came to pick her up, Kevin changed his shirt and washed his face before leaving.  He arrived at the edge of her property at precisely seven, but  took his time walking up to the door.  'What if he's still here?'  Kevin shook his head, trying to physically rid himself of the thought.  Kevin approached the door, roughly fifteen minutes after he had agreed to pick her up.  He paused for a moment--one last ditch effort to rid himself of any negative feelings--before he grabbed the large door knocker.  He knocked twice and waited.

"WHY ISN'T HE HERE YET!?!" Analiza fumed, the emerald silk of her dress dancing around her legs as she paced in her room. She, herself, wasn't half prepared. Her hair was still loose and her jewelry was scattered on her dressing table in waiting, but that wasn't the point. He was late, not her. Women were supposed to be fashionably late so the wait made the men appreciate them more when they finally appeared. How was she supposed to do that if he was 15 minutes late? It was aggravating to say the least.

And of course there was a nagging voice in the back of her head suggesting that he wasn't even going to show up. It was ridiculous and she knew it, but she couldn't help the irrational feeling that he was standing her up for a pretty little thing somewhere, laughing and dancing the night away without a thought of her in his head. Or worse, thinking about how angry she was and enjoying it. The thought made her so angry she picked up one of the shoes that were scattered about on her floor and threw it with all her might at the door, "Kevin you BASTARD!". It nearly missed Gob as he opened the door, slamming harmlessly into the hallway with a bang. Ducking, he gave her a frightened look and stammered "Uh... Misses... You have a caller..." Clearing his throat, he regained his composure and continued "... Master Hargrove I believe..."

Instantly her anger abated into the mild irritation it was before the negative thoughts entered her head. The nagging voice was squelched immediately with the smug thought that Kevin knew that no bar tramp was better then Analiza Snark. "Tell him I will be down in a moment" She said calmly, as though the temper tantrum had never happened. Gob hurried away quickly, obviously worried that one of those deadly stilletos was going to be aimed a bit better next time. As the door shut behind her, Ana dashed over to her dressing table. In moments, the jewelry graced her neck, arms and hands and red lipstick was slashed across her lips like war paint. Smearing some sleekeasy into her hands, she sculpted her hair so that the curls fell in a loose cloud on one side while the other was sleek and smooth. Pinning it with a golden clip, Ana spurted a couple bursts of perfume and gave herself one more look over in the mirror. She had to be perfect. That night had to be. She didn't know if she could live with it failing and adding to the other failures she had been collecting.

Sighing, she decided that, despite all the blemishes and mistakes she saw, she looked all right. Slipping on her heels and grabbing her clutch, Ana closed her eyes and took a deep breath before leaving her room. Appearing at the top of the stairs, she looked down at the figure of Kevin below. Instantly, all her anger and irritation from earlier was gone. Try as she might, she couldn't help the smile that curled on her scarlet lips as she looked down at him. He looked as handsome as ever and her heart hammered and jumped in her chest so much that she was afraid she was going to trip and fall as she came down the stairs.

"Hey..." She said softly as she made it to the bottom and stood in front of him, her mind lost for any better greeting then that.

Kevin had been greeted at the door by an old house elf.  The elf had led Kevin into the foyer and left him standing alone by the stairs.  The house was as magnificent as ever, it was elegant, classy, and big.  The tension loosened and Kevin began to relax, knowing that the man was not there.  Kevin didn't know him, but he hated him.  He despised him.  Making a mental note of it, Kevin resolved to figure out who it was and see if he could find a reason to arrest him.

The elf returned looking akin to a wizard seeing the grim.  'She will be down shortly.' He said before walking back into the depths of the house.  It seemed like moments, yet hours, that it took for her to appear at the top of the stairs.  Kevin's eyes opened slightly wider, his breathing paused, and his stomach flipped.  Analiza was... beyond description.  Kevin couldn't even think of words to describe her. 

"Hey..." She said softly.

Kevin was panicking on the inside, still as a statue on the outside.  Words--simple, meager strings of sounds--were failing him!  Him!  The master of smooth talking!

"Hi."

'"Hi?"  Really?!  Is that the best you can come up with?!?!'  The small little devil that seemed to always be sitting on Kevin's shoulder was in shock, its jaw on the floor.  "And you want to get this woman to like you?  You might as well be taking her to bible study."

Kevin's eyes slid back into the real world and his face showed its first sign of life.  Kevin smiled and spoke again, "Merlin...I try to work out every day but you... you have cheated God.  What's your secret...sell your soul to the devil?"  Kevin winked at her, flashing his infamous Hargrove grin.  "Seriously...you look gorgeous."

"I got us reservations at The Capital Restaurant.  It's a muggle restaurant, but the food is impeccable.  And, I swear I've seen the head chef around Diagon Alley...so I think that's how he manages to make sure the food is perfect.  The have a veal medallion with a foie gras that is to die for, or so I've heard."

"Hi."

For a moment the two of them stood there like they were gawky teens getting ready for junior prom. With the awkwardness clouding the air between them and the dorky smiles on both of their faces, you could imagine that any minute Kevin would pull out a boxed corsage and fumble as he tried to pin it to her dress, sticking her several times as she looked on with a metal-laced smile, trying to ignore the pain. Thank merlin he quickly broke the silence.

"Merlin...I try to work out every day but you... you have cheated God.  What's your secret...sell your soul to the devil? Seriously...you look gorgeous."

The smirk grew and her golden eyes twinkled playfully. Only Kevin could get away with a pick-up line like that, especially with her. While any other man would have found his mouth, and other parts of him, banished to some unknown dimension had he made the mistake of picking her up like that, Kevin got a smile and a pleased laughed. "My, seven years did nothing to tarnish that silver tongue of yours did it?" She teased "... Or perhaps it is because of all that French cheese..." As she spoke, her hand instinctively found his lapel and begin to smooth it. Not because it needed it per say, he was always well dressed, but because she felt the need to touch him. To convince herself that he was real more then anything.

"I got us reservations at The Capital Restaurant.  It's a muggle restaurant, but the food is impeccable.  And, I swear I've seen the head chef around Diagon Alley...so I think that's how he manages to make sure the food is perfect.  The have a veal medallion with a foie gras that is to die for, or so I've heard."

"Sounds lovely" She said softly, her hand still toying with his lapel as she stared at it with a uncharacteristically dreamy gaze. Her golden eyes focused on his tie, which she straightened, before flickering up to him. "I'll get my coat..." She said finally, pulling away reluctantly. Without a word from her, Gob appeared with a huge fur mantel that was nearly bowling him over in his attempt to not let any part of it touch the ground. He climbed up a small stool that sat against the wall behind her and held the furs so Ana could slide into them. Wrapping herself warmly, Analiza smiled at Kevin and offered her hand "I'm ready when you are..."

'Tornados.'

That was the natural disaster of choice Kevin focused on as she touched his chest.  She smoothed his shirt down and grinned at him; she had an impeccable smile.  Her house elf brought her coat out and Kevin was able to take a deep breath--he had apparently held it subconsciously upon her touch--as she got her coat on.  It looked very warm and very... furry.

"How many unicorns did you slay to make that thing?" He said as he lead her out the door.  He closed the door behind her and they set off down the walk.  Darkness had fallen, but the snow on the ground seemed to glow a deep blue. 

They reached the edge of her yard and he took her hand; he intertwined his fingers in hers and held her hand tightly.  With a crack, they apparated to the entrance of Diagon Alley.  "It's easier to apparate here and then walk to The Capital.  I'd hate to have to apparate you into a dingy muggle alley.  Last I checked, you did not like rats," he explained as they left Diagon Alley for muggle London.  They exchanged more pleasantries on the short, brisk walk to The Capitol Restaurant.  It began to snow softly as they reached the doors and gave their coats to the coatcheck.

"I have a reservation for two under the name Merlin."

"Merlin...what?" The young woman inquired, looking thoroughly confused.

Kevin took it in stride, "No other name...it's just Merlin."  He turned away as she looked through their reservation book.  The small hostess nodded and led them to a small, two-person candle-lit table.  She placed two menus on the table and traded Ana's white napkin for a dark one.  "A bottle of your best cab, please," Kevin told her.

When the hostess left, Kevin looked at Ana over the candle's flickering light and smiled.  "So, Ana, really...how have you been?  It's hard to tell sometimes just reading letters."  Kevin and Analiza had shared letters constantly over the previous month; Kevin kept every one of her letters and still read them frequently.

"How many unicorns did you slay to make that thing?"

"Oh dozens... I've lost count... How did you think I stay so beautiful?" She smirked, winking sarcastically before strolling out the door, her dress twining about her legs as it billowed in the biting winter breeze. Despite the coziness of the fur wrap and the warming spells placed on the thin satin of the dress, Analiza couldn't help but feel a chill radiate through her slender arms. However, when Kevin's fingers brushed hers and enveloped her much smaller hand in his own, the frigid London winter seemed to melt from the welcoming warmth he radiated. A soft blush that she would likely write off as frost bite touched her cheeks and she squeezed his slightly calloused hand.

The apparating sensation was never a welcome one, but Ana was thankful that he remembered her hatred of flying. She would take the stomach sinking sensation of tearing her molecules apart and rearranging them long before she would stick naught but a bit of wood and twigs between her and the ground hundreds of feet below. Still, she found herself clinging to Kevin as they disapparated in Diagon Alley, her head reeling slightly.

"It's easier to apparate here and then walk to The Capital.  I'd hate to have to apparate you into a dingy muggle alley.  Last I checked, you did not like rats,"

Shaking off the sensation, Analiza smirked at him, her hand still clenched in his as though it was it's natural place "... I believe that was YOU that screamed like a little girl last time we saw one..." She snickered, their hands swinging lazily between them as they walked to the restaurant, teasing each other with forgotten memories. By the time they got to the Capital, Analiza's smile had grown to such epic proportions that she was afraid it was going to split her face. It almost hurt, smiling that much when she did it so little otherwise, and the fact he put the reservations under "Merlin" just made things worse. She slapped his arm and shook her head "Really Kevin... Merlin? Really?" She chuckled a little as they took their seats at a private candlelit table.

Gazing across at him, the soft candlelight casting a soft glow across her golden eyes, Analiza's smile softened as she took him in. Merlin, he hadn't aged at all. A little more salt and pepper in his hair and a few more laughter lines around those mischievous eyes perhaps, but still as handsome as ever. She wondered briefly how she got so lucky. It seemed like, for most of her life, that all Analiza got was the joke bag in the gamble that was life. The man sitting across from her, with this look in his eyes like she was a genuinely beautiful person he was enjoying his time with, was a rare pleasure and one that she desperately didn't want to lose.

"So, Ana, really...how have you been?  It's hard to tell sometimes just reading letters."

When he said this, Ana's hand brushed the carefully hidden scar on her arm. Playing it off as just a thoughtful action, Analiza traced the ridges of the fingers burned into her pale skin, thinking about what she and Joăo had talked about earlier that morning. The soft smile on her face faltered for a moment before being replaced with a slightly more strained one. There were so many things going wrong in her life at that moment, she didn't want to bring down the one good one by talking about her problems.

"I've..been better... I mean, no matter how rich and famous and beautiful you are, life always has a way of throwing a bludger at you..." She chuckled as she said this, but the lighthearted laughter was tinged with a hint of  regret and even melancholy. Looking down, she paused for a moment before her golden eyes met his again, a more genuine smile on her face "I'm better now though, since you returned... Werewolves not withstanding..."

With every passing minute spent with Analiza, the small tingling feeling of jealousy that had been so strong all afternoon dwindled.  A warm sense of security emanated from her like a bonfire...Kevin could not stand to be angry or jealous or anything negative around her; to do so would be physically exhausting.  Kevin took note of Analiza's smile; it stretched across her face, nearly from ear to ear.  He smiled in return, it was hard not to smile around Analiza, too.

The waitress was quick bringing the wine.  She uncorked the bottle and began to pour Analiza a glass.  Kevin reached his hands under the table, under the pretense of situating his napkin, when all of a sudden and for no reason, the glass she was pouring into fell over, causing wine to spread into a pool across the table and a single red drop to land on Ana’s thin dress.

”OH!  OH!”  The waitress began something strikingly similar to a panic attack.  She grabbed a towel from a nearby busboy and began to sop up the spilt wine.

Kevin reached up and took the other glass of wine.  He raised the glass to his lips and took a large gulp.  With the glass still resting against his lips, he caught Analiza’s eye and winked.  Of course, he knew that toying with muggles was a criminal offense…but that didn’t stop the occasional prank.  It was a commonality among all hitwizards that jokes are meant to be played on any and all people in the world.  And, though without evidence, Kevin was sure that the muggle police probably did the same thing.

He hoped the small prank—though, he hadn’t anticipated the single drop of wine on Ana’s dress—would cheer her up.  He could tell that happiness wasn’t the only thing in the beautiful Snark’s plate, but he could also tell that it was probably not something she wanted to visit on her holidays.  He did not want to push it, especially when he knew that his own skeletons had been swimming quite close to the surface as of late.

“This wine is very good.  I may be willing to share this glass until that clumsy waitress can scrounge up another,” He smiled, tilting the glass toward her, holding it halfway across the table. 

”OH!  OH!”

It was sheer dumb luck that the waitress had caught Ana on a good night in the company of one of the few people that made her truly enjoy herself. Had it been any other night with any other person accompanying her, that tiny drop of red wine that was now soaking into the emerald satin draped across Ana's lap would have cost the girl her job. However, Analiza was enjoying her time with Kevin so much that all the anger she could muster was a hateful glare in the girls direction. Although decidedly mild for Miss Snark, the girl's already stricken face paled considerably under the harsh golden stare and she quickly made her exit.

“This wine is very good.  I may be willing to share this glass until that clumsy waitress can scrounge up another,”

Kevins ever present smirk was exceedingly mischievous and Analiza realized that he must have caused the spill. Working her jaw for a moment, she gave him a look that said clearly 'Not bad, I'll give you that one..." before reaching out and snatching the glass from his hand smoothly. "I believe that you mean I might be willing to share my glass of wine. After all, you already owe me a new dress, let's not add to it..." She brought her bounty to her lips and took a long drought, licking her lips and nodding in approval. "You are right... it is an excellent year. Perhaps I won't be so generous after all..." She took another large sip, her eyes twinkling evilly as she gazed at him over the top of the glass.

His antics made her mood considerably lighter, all but wiping away the previous negativity and reminding her of what a scoundrel he was. Oh how much fun they had a decade ago, when they were still young enough to get away with such things. Apparently he wanted to relive a few of those glory days. "You know... Making the waitress spill a drink is so...I don't know... 1st year..." She teased a little, the tip of her tongue resting on her top lip as she smirked widely. "... You need to be... flashier and more dramatic if you expect to catch a girl like mines attention. Like..." She looked around and saw a waiter carefully carrying a plate of crepe Suzette to a rather portly man with a handlebar mustache sitting alone a few tables away. "...This..."

Sliding her hand into her purse, Analiza's fingers wrapped around her wand and she waited for the waiter to light the plate ablaze. As the flames burst from the delicate pastry, Analiza twitched her wrist and the entire plate suddenly did a triple axle and landed in the portly gentleman's lap. He let out a bellow as the bit of fire that didn't die when falling on his rather expensive looking slacks suddenly lit his tie ablaze. As he and the waiter beat out the flames, Analiza couldn't help but snicker. "Oh... Crepe."

Kevin watched with curiosity as Ana reached her hand under the table and began looking over to a neighboring table.  Unsure of what he was supposed to be looking for, Kevin glanced back at Ana and almost missed the big to-do.  He watched with wide eyes as a plate--that was on fire, no less--somersaulted through the air and landed on a muggle's lap, consequently setting his tie ablaze. 

Kevin's jaw had subconsciously dropped in disbelief... it was nothing new for Kevin to pull pranks like a sixteen year old, but surely Headmistress-the-World-Is-Mine-To-Conquer-Snark had grown up?  'Apparently not...'

The moment of disbelief passed and then it was all Kevin could do to keep from going into hysterics; if he begun laughing, he felt that it would be highly unlikely that he would be able to stop.  He pretended to cough--trying to hide the radiant and much-humored smile that was desperate to break through.  He cleared his throat and tried to gain enough composure to speak.

"Analiza Raven Snark...I cannot believe you!" He said in a shout-like whisper.  "I ought to arrest you on the spot, fooling around with muggles like that."  He winked at her, though momentarily unsure that he would be able to arrest her without back-up; Kevin was a good duelist, no doubt, but Analiza was the kind of player that never showed all her cards.  And, knowing her, she had a deck of aces up her sleeve.  "That poor waiter is likely to be fired after that."

Their waitress had returned with a sheepish smile as she set out a new glass and filled it with the dark red wine.  Kevin thanked her and proceeded with his order--diver scallops with a lemon, butter, and herb rue and a side of grilled asparagus and au gratin potatoes.  He handed his menu to the waitress and picked up the new glass of wine, ushering Ana to place her order as he took a sip.  His mind only briefly pondered whether or not he should have checked that Ana was actually ready to order, when she opened her mouth to speak...

As his jaw flopped unceremoniously to his chest, Analiza couldn't help but let out a peal of laughter, stifling it without much success under one manicured hand. He seemed so surprised that she would do such a thing, but Analiza wasn't. Under her mask of cool contempt and self satisfaction, hidden in some dark recess of her mind, was a teenage girl who enjoyed parties, pranks and laughing. Kevin was just one of the very few people that could draw that teenage girl out of her and into the light. Biting back her laughter, a genuine smile sprouting on her thin lips and shining in her eyes, Analiza took a nonchalant sip of her wine as though she had no clue to what had just happened.

"Analiza Raven Snark...I cannot believe you! I ought to arrest you on the spot, fooling around with muggles like that. That poor waiter is likely to be fired after that."

For a moment the cool, stoic mask went up and Analiza eyed him as she took another sip of her wine. Was he or wasn't he serious? He was an excellent actor and could even catch her off-guard. But... wait... no there was that mischievous twinkle in his eye. He was bullshitting her as usual. Swallowing her wine, Analiza gave a slight shrug of her shoulders and retorted with an insincerely innocent "Oops?". What else could she say? She wasn't a very sympathetic person to be sure. Her upbringing made it hard to see how important the waiters job could be to him eating that week or not. In her mind, her getting him fired would be a blessing for him since he could be free to go do something he enjoyed. "I'm sure he will be fine..." Analiza replied as an offhanded afterthought, a tiny twinge of guilt hovering somewhere in her conscious.

The waitress returned before she could say anything else and Kevin ordered a bit quickly, leaving Ana to scan quickly over the menu. She had been too busy tripping up waiters to even take a look at what they had to offer. Everything looked quite delicious and Ana hemmed and hawed a little as she tried to figure out whether she wanted the lobster or the veal. By the time she had weighed the pros and cons, the poor waitress' smile was strained to the point that she looked like her face would crack if she kept it up any longer. Analiza offered her a cool, tight lipped smile that had not an ounce of sympathy for her plight. "Grilled veal chops with fresh herbs and port wine sauce... I'll take the mixed vegetables and potatoes au gratin on the side." The waitress nodded and quickly took the menus, eager to remove herself.

When she was gone, Analiza's golden eyes flickered a burning gaze towards Kevin. Leaning forward, she rested her chin on her interlaced fingers and let a flirtatious smirk play upon her lips. "You know... Kev... You don't need to arrest me just to get me in handcuffs..."