Trick or Treat

I want to give a great big thank you hug to DuchessOfArcadia for combing through this to point out my numerous errors to help me make this presentable for reading, and Arabella Bloodgood for helping me create my banner.

Thank you both so very much!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trick Or Treat

Severus returned home, walking stealthily up the path behind a pair of boys with Bella in his arms, her head on his shoulder, idly fingering his hair. Hermione opened the door, still wearing his clothes and looking like him. The two boys stared at her. "Ah, er, trick... er," one stammered as the other looked ready to bolt.

He was secretly pleased by their reaction. Well, she scares the kids well enough, but I'll be damned if I'm going to kiss her – my face in greeting. I'll wait until the potion wears off. "Hello, wife," he growled at her smiling face. "Good night?"

The two kids looked from Severus to Hermione, and their mouths gaped open, their eyes impossibly wide.

"Indeed," Hermione said in a fair impression of him.

He smiled at the two still standing, albeit slightly shaking, kids. "Yes, indeed," he teased her in a deep imposing voice while staring at the boys.

"Tr...eat er, trick..." the older one stammered as the younger one grabbed his brother's sleeve and whimpered.

Hermione placed the Whizz Wheezes in their carriers, and they turned around and ran away. The youngest one, however, had dropped his carrier.

Severus handed Bella over to Hermione, walked over to pick up the carrier and carried it to the curb, handing the bucket to Professor Longbottom. "Your child dropped this."

Neville smiled, trying to console his youngest and indicating with a flick of his finger for his oldest to take the carrier as he said, "Thanks. Everyone is talking about your house this year. You still terrify every kid you meet."

"That was Hermione. She's dressed up as me," Severus stated, still smiling slightly.

Neville laughed. "She must be doing a good job with your signature sneer. It took my sons three tries to reach the door," he said, finally giving up and standing to face Severus.

"Would you like to come up for a drink?" Severus asked, indicating the door.

"Not tonight," Neville replied with a shake of his head. "I, er, already went up, the first two tries. The pumpkins look great. It was quite a shock the first time. I think my reaction is what scared Harry so."

"Well, I'll see you at the feast, then," Severus said with a nod. "We'll discuss the addition of another greenhouse on Monday."

"Thanks," Neville said, grinning. "Until the feast, Headmaster."

"Professor," Severus answered and then turned to walk back to his front door. He saw a small, metallic blue bundle curled up in a ball, sucking on her tail in front of the large gravestone that stood next to the porch. Severus shook the small shoulder, lifting a drowsy Swedish short snout into his arms. "You, young lady, should be in bed."

"I was waiting for you," Bella replied, her voice thick with sleep. "I want you to read to me, daddy." She yawned, then snuggled her face on his shoulder, her fingers absently playing with his hair again.

Severus smiled. "I can't now, Bell. I have to go back to the school, and I won't be able to come home until after curfew. Let's get you to bed." One of the most precious people in his life snuggled even closer in his arms, already fast asleep.

His doppelganger turned around when Severus entered the house. "What...why...did she sneak out again? I just put her to bed."

"Apparently she snuck out. She was sleeping in the graveyard," Severus said with a subtle jerk of his head. Hermione, still in his form, walked forward as if to kiss him, and he put out a hand to stop her. "There is just something wrong about kissing yourself."

"But, Sevie," his wife said in his silken voice, and he tilted his head slightly while he glared at her in warning. "Why not? I love kissing you."

"How much longer before this," he said with a wave of his hand, "wears off?"

"I was just about to take another dose," she said with an impish grin.

"If you have to, but I prefer kissing you...the real you," he replied with a shrug. "I'll put Bella back in her bed."

(*0*)

It had been a very long night, but then Halloween typically was. One thousand kids, high on a sugar buzz with magic wands and overactive imaginations, Severus thought dolefully.

A few students had managed to get some of Hagrid's pumpkins out of the Great Hall and had floated them outside of the first years' windows to the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers. However, that had been Filius' and Minerva's problem to resolve.

Some other brilliant intellectual had turned the water in the prefect pool into some mess called Jello. When he'd left the room, the house-elves were having the time of their lives playing with the stuff. At least it would be gone by morning.

But the several dozen bats that had been let loose in the dungeons had been the biggest problem because Peeves had been chasing them out into the main stairways and the pests had swarmed all over the castle, making the girls scream. That, and there had been Peruvian Darkness Powder outside the library and Decoy Detonators on every floor. Weasley's fireworks had been let loose on the grounds in the shape of bats, clowns, ghouls, and dragons. There had been two new swamps on the third and seventh floor corridors, innumerable headless students, thanks to Weasleys' Headless hats, and someone had hung a mannequin from the ceiling in the Entrance Hall. Severus suspected Talfryn and his friends of the fireworks, detonators, darkness powder, and the mannequin, and, if Severus could ever prove it, the boy and his friends would have detention for a month.

Minerva and Filius had cleaned up the swamps, and Severus had dispelled the Darkness Powder and disposed with the mannequin in the Room of Requirement where it had come from. He'd even had the privilege of deducting house points from ardent adolescents engaged in lewd acts in the nooks, crannies, and alcoves on his final check of the corridors. However, he'd told his staff to just let the fireworks burn themselves out and put any student who tried to Stun or Vanish them in detention with him. Thankfully, word had spread quickly.

He sighed as he locked the huge oak doors for the night. Severus flew down to the gates and Apparated home, glad that the night was over. As Severus walked up the front path to his house, he scowled. A familiar lump of blue with a thick padded tail was curled up on his front step. Severus scooped up his daughter and carried her inside.

"Daddy?" his daughter asked, wrapping her arms about his neck.

"Yes, Bella," he said softly, rubbing her back.

"I saw fireworks," she said with a yawn. "Two dragons flew over the town and became many."

"What were you doing outside?" he asked as she nestled her face into his neck.

"I was waiting for you." One of her tiny hands began to stroke his hair. "I wanted to show you the fireworks," she said with another yawn.

Hermione appeared at the foot of the stairs, and he held up his finger to quiet her questions. He carried Belladonna to her room and laid her on her princess canopy bed. When he started to undo her buttons, she grasped his hands. "No, Daddy. I wanna be a short snout."

Severus smiled. It wouldn't hurt any to let her sleep in her costume. Apparently, Hermione had relented earlier, otherwise she'd be in her pajamas instead. "All right, Bella." He leaned down and kissed her cheek, watching her as she fell back asleep.

Severus quietly backed out of his daughter's room and walked into his own. Hermione was wearing a long, lacy wrap over another lacy under thing, neither of which concealed much. "So, is my reputation irrevocably damaged, witch?"

"Not in the slightest," she replied, handing him a drink with a salacious smile. "It was so much fun pretending to be you, snarling and scowling at the kids all night."

His gaze roamed down his wife's body. "Well, I have to admit I definitely like this costume much better than your previous one."

Hermione walked up and wrapped her arms about his neck. "This one is only for you."

"I should hope so," he replied lustily as he caressed her though the flimsy fabric. "I'd have to kill the b..."

He was silenced by the gentle caress of her lips on his, and his arms engulfed her as he returned her kiss.

~ Trick–or–Treat! ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's Notes:

Max the Malicious: I made him up. Sorry.

Glenda Chittock: canon. She is a popular presenter of the W.W.N. (Wizarding Wireless Network) Witching Hour program. Think Elvira with fangs.

Lorcan d'Eath: canon. He's a popular singer of the hit song, 'Necks to You,' which was at number one for a full nineteen weeks and running, Okay, he's a vampire who's also a heartthrob singer.

Crispin Cronk: canon. He was sent to Azkaban for ignoring repeated warnings from the Ministry of Magic that he couldn't keep sphinxes in his back garden. I guess that means that it's against the law to have one as a pet.

Ignatia Wildersmith: canon. She's a dour-faced witch who apparently invented Floo Powder.

Artemisia Lufkin: canon. She is another scary-faced witch, who incidentally, was the first witch to become Minister of Magic. She apparently served between 1798 – 1811.

Honoria Nutcombe: canon. She's a really compassionate lady who founded the Society for the Reformation of Hags. By the way, she was a hag.

Chauncey Oldridge: canon. He was the first known victim of the Dragon Pox. I have no idea if he survived or not but, since he lived only thirty-seven years, it's highly probable he died from the disease.