Time For a Change

Their waitress appeared and Elizabeth was pleased to note that Anthony was letting her order for herself. Many men she used to date didn't, and there was a reason she wasn't with them anymore. Granted, she didn't consider this a date. She'd just met the guy!

"I'll have the ravioli and to drink I'll have a glass of the Primitivo," she said. She nodded over to Anthony to tell him that he could then order.

Anthony was well aware that this wasn't a date, but either way, date or not, he knew he was going to remain doing what he was. Who knew what could happen after tonight though? Perhaps if they hit it off.. he wasn't going to worry about that. Not right now, anyhow. He was just focused on getting to know her just a bit more. Even if that was usually done on first dates, oh well.

Waiting until Elizabeth finished ordering and their waitress stopped scribbling, he gave the girl a slight smile before responding with, "The usual." She chuckled but gave a nod before writing it down, excusing herself and heading off to get the drinks. Anthony allowed his attention to return to Elizabeth.

"So, Elizabeth.." He began, wondering where to start. "Tell me about yourself?" He suggested. He wasn't quite sure how else to fuel a conversation without having it be ignited first.

After their waitress left, Elizabeth thought for a moment when Anthony asked her about herself.

"Well, I'm an only child," she said, "and in my family that's an oddity. My grandmother was the youngest of seven children. I love dragons, flying, and traveling. Despite my job as History of Magic teacher, I actually hate doing any research."

She chuckled a bit at that. It just seemed so ironic that she had to.

"Oh, pranks. I do enjoy a good prank or two," she said, not believing that she could have left that part out. "Though the funny kind, not the kind that are purposefully mean."

"Well, that's that." she said. "Elizabeth Potter for you." she chuckled.

Anthony found himself leaning forward slightly in anticipation of what she was going to say, leaning his arms lightly on the table top in front of him. He was always an observant person who didn't mind listening, and not only that, but he almost always remembered things he was told. Meaning everything Elizabeth told him, never would be far from memory if he ever needed it.

He never once cut her off while she spoke, instead opting to nod every now and then to show her that he was in fact listening. He kept his eyes lightly on her as she spoke to also show her that she had his full attention. The waitress came with their drink in the middle of Elizabeth's talking, and Anthony paused only once to thank the waitress before his attention was back on Elizabeth.

Giving her a small grin when she finished, he found himself leaning back again as he considered what to say next. They did have a couple of things in common.. "I have two sisters and two brothers. I love to travel, work out, play Muggle sports and practice my flying." He paused, realizing she hadn't asked him about himself, but it would be pointless to stop half-way in between. "Being a former Slytherin back when I attended Hogwarts, I do have a love for joking around, humor, and of course pranking." He finished off with a small nod, and a grin.

"Anthony Mancini for you." He playfully mocked her, winking afterward to show he was just joking.

"What muggle sports do you play?" Elizabeth asked, taking a sip of her wine after she asked the question. It was good.

"Former Slytherin eh?" she chuckled. "I was a Hufflepuff when I attended Hogwarts. It made pranking people that much easier as no one believed a Puff had it in them."

Elizabeth chuckled a bit when he finished the same way that she had and smiled in return as he gave her a wink. Despite her lack of siblings, she did have cousins (lots and lots of cousins).

"You play Quidditch?" she asked. Chasing was her forte just like her Dad, though Keeping came in second.

Anthony reached out to take a sip of his own drink, which tasted great as usual. Placing his glass back down easily, he paused for a moment before answering her. "Football, which is my favorite. Basketball at times, as well as soccer.." He said, before shrugging. "I've tried baseball a few times as well. Anything that makes me active, I'm up for." He said with a grin. He was a naturally athletic person, and he loved working out, being fit, and just being active. The body he had proved it, but he didn't go around flaunting it, even if he was proud of what he'd worked so hard for.

He nodded when she repeated about him being a former Snake, and he smirked when she spoke of how she used to plan her pranks. "Ah.. devious of you. Good idea though." He said, his smirk growing into a grin. "So you do have that.. rebel streak in you." He said teasingly. He nodded when she asked if he played Quidditch. "I loved it when I was in school. Chasing and Keeping, my favorites. Specifically Keeping." He said with a smile. "How about you? Have I perhaps found someone I can challenge to a game?" He asked playfully.

Just then their food arrived, and he inhaled appreciatively as the lovely aroma's filled his nose. "Yum.. I've been waiting all day for this." He said with a chuckle, thanking the waitress once more before he picked up his fork. Time for some tasty food.

"I played soccer once," Elizabeth said, the memory came back to her. "I somehow tripped over the ball and landed on my cousin."

"Well, a prankster has to use any advantage he or she can get," she said when he mentioned how devious it was to use her house's reputation to her advantage. "Proud of it," she grinned when he teased her good naturedily about having a rebel streak.

"I did play Chaser on my House team during my time at Hogwarts," Elizabeth said proudly. "I'd be glad to play you, maybe even teach you a thing or two about the sport?" she teased. She'd never seen him play, but when it came to Quidditch...she always talked trash.

The food came and it smelt divine. "Looks lovely," she said and picked up her fork and knife. Slowly, she cut the ravioli into mouth sized parts before sticking one and placing it in her mouth.

Merlin! She'd had ravioli before, but this was nothing like she'd ever tasted.

She swallowed her bite and grinned. "This is phenomenal!" she praised.

Anthony blinked when she explained to him what happened the one time she played soccer, but he couldn't help but crack a half grin at the image of that in his head. "Are you usually clumsy, or just one of those days?" He said with a chuckle, hoping she didn't take offence to how he worded it. He hadn't meant it in an offensive way, he was just truly curious. After all, he did want to learn new things about her.

He nodded in agreement when she spoke of being a prankster, smirking a bit when she said she was proud of having a rebel streak. "That's good. Someone without a rebel streak in them.. I don't know how they live life on the safe side. It's probably so boring.." He thought aloud, shaking his head after a few moments. He couldn't even begin to imagine the level of boredom someone must go through if they never tried anything different.

He felt his brow raising a fraction when she said she'd be glad to play him and maybe even teach him a few things when it came to Quidditch. He couldn't stop the massive grin that formed on his lips. "Oh, you're on Ms. Potter." He said teasingly. "It'll be one hell of a game." He promised her. Two competitive people playing against one another.. it always made for an interesting time.

He nodded toward her words as he began twirling his spaghetti around his fork slowly, taking a bite and chewing slowly to savior the delicious taste flowing over his taste buds. He gave Elizabeth a smile once he swallowed, hearing her words. "Why thank you. The cook will certainly appreciate it." He said sincerely, knowing his father would have a big grin on his face after hearing that.

Taking another bite, he chewed thoughtfully as he tried to think of another thing they could possibly talk about. "Any pets?" He finally managed to come up with.

"It was just one of those days," Elizabeth chuckled. "Though I am a little clumsy at some times. Made school a challenge."

"In my family, if you had a safe side you got pranked. No questions asked." she smiled a little at the memories. "It got you accustomed to new things easier when you didn't know if you were going to wake up with blue hair or have feathers."

She was not speaking from experience.

She smirked a little when he said that it was on. "That it will be," she said. Though, how Quidditch could be played one-on-one, she wasn't sure.

When he said that the cook would be happy to hear her praise, Elizabeth smiled again. She always was happy when others were.

"I don't have a pet per say, but my dad has an owl and when I was younger we had three cats, a dog and there was a stag that would come and visit on occasion."

"How about you?" she asked.

"Oh, I understand." He said reasonably, smirking a bit when she said she was clumsy. "Aren't we all." He remarked, trying to think back to his high school days. It was only six years ago, but he still had a hard time recollecting things from that far back. Mostly because nothing exactly life-changing had happened then.

He took another bite of his food as he listened to her talking, and once again he nodded. "I can see that. Must have been fun living like that." He teased, but he was actually being honest. While his family hadn't lived quite like that, he was sure it was an interesting experience.

"We'll have to round up a few others for the game though.." He mused when she agreed to the game, and his mind wandered for a moment as he began thinking of people they could possibly get to join. He didn't allow himself to be distracted for long though before he looked back to her and gave her a slight smile, noticing she was wearing one of her own.

"That's cool. I don't have any, actually." He said with a small shrug.

"Actually it was fun living like that," Elizabeth chuckled. "Sometimes there would be huge prank wars between the girls and the guys, while the adults would watch. Only rule was that it couldn't be anything too embarrassing."

She nodded when he said that they'd have to round up others for the game. Maybe some of her co-workers? She decided to think about it at a later date, when she wasn't in the middle of a conversation.

"Really?" she asked when Anthony said that he didn't have any pets. While it was true that she didn't have any either, her parents had them when she was growing up and her cousins always had pets. She couldn't imagine a house without an animal.

She took a few more bites of her meal, her taste buds doing the happy dance as she did so, and swallowed before talking once more.

"What was your favorite subject when you were at Hogwarts?" she asked. What? She was running out of things to ask!

Anthony took a sip of his drink as he imagined what she was saying in his head, and he was smirking by the time he placed the glass back onto the table. "I wouldn't have minded living like that. My house was more.. organized. As in.. pranks weren't allowed, unless outside the house of course." He said with a slight chuckle. "My parents were always easy going, but they liked things to be neat." He reasoned.

He nodded, slightly disappointed when she asked him about the pets. "Unfortunately. Goes along once more with the organized and neat thing.." He said sadly. "I do have a soft spot for animals though. I've been considering getting one, actually." He said, his good mood seeping back into his expression.

By now his meal was halfway done, and he knew that after their dinner it would be time to go their separate ways. He tried not to think of that just yet though, because he was enjoying his time. "Hm.. I'd have to say probably Defense Against the Dark Arts.. I really didn't mind any of my classes though. How about you?"

Inwardly Elizabeth made a face at the prospect of neat and orderly living. Her mum tried, but with her and her father she just couldn't keep up.

She noticed that he seemed to be almost disappointed with her question and regretted it. She didn't want to make anyone uncomfortable at all. But she smiled when his good mood seemed to come back.

"My favorite subject..." she said, "surprisingly was not History of Magic. It was Astronomy. I just loved looking at the stars, planets, the moon. Name anything in the night sky and I enjoyed looking at it. Though the rest of my classes were just as enjoyable, with the exception of Potions but you already know about that sad tale."

She hadn't even noticed that she was about two thirds of the way done with her meal. Anthony was just so easy to talk to. She pushed the thought out of her mind.

Anthony found his head tilting to the side a bit when she said that History of Magic actually hadn't been her favorite subject. "Somehow, I knew you were going to say that." He said with a slight grin, but he hadn't been expecting her favorite class to be Astronomy. "But that, I didn't expect." He added with a sheepish smirk. "I like unexpected things."

"I actually didn't take Astronomy, although I'm really not sure why.. you still enjoy that sort of thing?" He asked casually, not about to let the conversation come to a sudden halt. They'd been talking pretty steadily for most of the night, and he wanted to finish it off that way as well. "I think I was rather safe when it came to Potions.. for the most part." He teased her easily.

Taking the last bite of his meal with surprise, he pushed his empty plate to the side before drinking the rest of his drink. Glancing over toward Elizabeth, he noticed she was nearly done as well, and he grinned. "Up for dessert, or do you think you're good?" He said curiously. He hadn't decided if he was up for some yet.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow in amusement when he said that he knew she'd say that History of Magic was not her favorite class. "What did you think I was going to say?" she chuckled when he admitted to have not been expecting her answer of Astronomy. "Herbology?"

"I do enjoy it, though it's much more enjoyable now that I'm not getting tested on it," she chuckled. "Prat," she shook her head good naturedly at him when he teased her once more about Potions.

She was surprised when he asked if she wanted dessert. Was it that time already? "I"m game if you are," she said, not wanting to cause him to wait around just to watch her eat.

Anthony considered her question for a moment before his shoulders rose and fell in a shrug. "No.. actually, I wasn't really sure what you were going to say. But." He paused, trying to word it in his head before speaking out loud so it would make sense to more then just him. "Usually, the careers people end up choosing have almost nothing to do with what they were interested in when they attended school." He made a face. "Does that make sense to you?" He hoped so, because he didn't like being confusing.

His head bobbed up and down in understanding when she spoke of Astronomy. "You'll have to teach me a bit about it sometime. Now that, I won't mind getting schooled on." He teased, grinning in good nature when she spoke of him being a prat.

He paused for a moment before he was grinning again. "I'm always game for dessert." He said proudly, and the waitress came over at just that second, the dessert menus in hand. Anthony took them from her with a chuckle. "Yes, we'll be needing these." He said as he handed one over toward Elizabeth. The waitress re-filled their glasses and took their dishes away with a small smirk, promising to be back in a few moments to take their dessert orders.

"Hm, what to get, what to get..."

"That does make sense," Elizabeth nodded. "But sometimes they do," she nodded in his direction as proof.

"You'll have to pay attention," she smirked though a very faint blush was on her cheeks. She was glad that she wasn't blushing a tomato (or a Weasley) red.

Inwardly she was relieved that he was game for dessert, otherwise she'd have left. She took the offered menu, though curious as to why their waitress was smirking as she took away the dishes.

Her eyes moved across the menu, hunting for something delectable to eat. Not that she wasn't 110% positive that whatever she had would be good. Finally, her eyes fell on the words Marzipan Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce.

"I know what I'll be having," she said her mouth already preforming a happy dance at the thought. "What about you?"

Anthony found himself shrugging, his head tilting back and forth as he made a "so-so" face. "I suppose you are right about that.." He said after a moment. Had he always wanted to be an Auror? Yes. Yet while this had been his first career choice, he hadn't been able to get into it until just recently.

His attention wandered back over to her face, and he was amused to see a faint blush back on her cheeks. "I can't promise I can pay attention all the time with such a beauty as my teacher, but I'll do my best." He replied with a wink, not missing a beat.

He briefly glanced over the menu before placing it down, already having that memorized as well. What was he in the mood for? He met her gaze when she said she knew what she would be having, and she looked rather happy about it. He smirked before deciding he'd go simple today. "I'm pretty sure I know what I'm getting too." He said, looking up just as their waitress wandered over, pen poised over har paper.

Once more, just like last time, Anthony turned his attention over toward Elizabeth expectantly.

When their waitress reappeared, Elizabeth said "I'll have the Marzipan Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce please."

Her taste buds were once again doing a pre-happy dance as she thought of tasting that dessert. She nodded over to Anthony that it was his turn to order.

He was a nice man to be with, she noticed. She hoped that they would be able to do this again sometime.

Anthony watched as the waitress scribbled down Elizabeth's order before turning to him, and he paused, stacking their menus before he replied. "The original cheesecake drizzled in strawberries." He replied with a slight smile, and the waitress nodded, collected their menus, and disappeared to get the requested dessert.

Turning his attention back toward Elizabeth, he gave her a smile. "So, enjoying yourself?" He mused, but from the looks of it she was.

"Yes I am," Elizabeth nodded and smiled. "This place is amazing, the food is divine, and the company isn't half bad either," she said.

She took a sip of her wine and smiled. Anthony really knew how to show a girl a good time, even one he'd just met.

"So did you always want to be an Auror?" she asked curious. Hey, she should get to ask some questions too.

Anthony shifted in his seat a bit to find a more comfortable position before he once more gave Elizabeth a rather large smile, nodding at her answer. "I'm glad." He replied, chuckling as she went on to explain the place and the food, though his brow arched slightly in play when she spoke about him. "Half bad? I know I'm amazing company." He said confidently, smirking at her.

He took another sip of his re-filled drink, really happy that she was actually enjoying herself. He'd always been a gentleman and a romantic at heart, and while he'd just met her, he knew it was already beginning to shine through. Not that it was a bad thing, but their dinner together made her into more of an acquaintance rather then a stranger. He wondered if he wanted their acquaintanceship to become something more friendly.. he still had dessert to ponder over it.

He glanced back over to her when he heard her question, glad she was asking them. He liked answering them. "Actually, yes. I did. I'm not quite sure why, but the career choice was always so interesting to me.. I just hadn't ever gotten a chance to get a job as one though until a few months back." He explained, thanking their waitress as their dessert was brought over and placed in front of them.

"Okay, okay you're amazing," Elizabeth chuckled. He really was amazing company, and there was something about him that just made her feel comfortable around him. Was that odd?

Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. But Anthony was becoming something stronger than just some random stranger who invited her to eat something with him. He answered her question and she nodded as he explained. "The Aurors always seemed to be so alluring to me when I was younger. Of course having a father, grandfather and uncle as one made it seem even cooler." she chuckled softly as if recalling a memory from the back of her head.

She was curious as to why he had only been able to get a job as an auror a few months ago but the dessert distracted her. Giving a smile to their waitress, she took a fork and took a scoop of that cheesecake. Carefully she placed it in her mouth.

MERLIN THAT'S GOOD! she thought as her eyes lit up and a small smile started to form on her mouth.

"Yum-um-um-um-y!" she said drawing out the 'um' part of the word. She took another bite. She just loved that cake!

Hearing her change her answer he couldn't help but laugh in amusement. "Now that's more like it." He said with a playful wink. For some reason he felt oddly comfortable around her. Not that he wasn't normally when it came to meeting new people, because being his friendly self he was always sure to put his company at ease more then himself. It was just something about her that made him enjoy her company, and he hadn't been able to do that with someone since he'd met Juniper. He felt his mood beginning to decrease slightly when he thought about her, but he did his best to dismiss those thoughts for later. They hadn't plagued him for a while and besides, he was content with enjoying Elizabeth's company a while longer until she had to leave.

Meeting her gaze when she began speaking again, he cursed himself for letting his thoughts drift off once again. He had a wonderful woman in front of him, he had no reason to be thinking of other unimportant things. Nodding slightly at her words, chuckling. "Yeah, being around it all the time definitely makes it even more alluring." He agreed.

Picking up his fork, he watched in amusement as Elizabeth carefully placed a piece of hers in her mouth. A wide grin broke out across his handsome face the moment he saw her reaction. Laughing a bit when she drew out the word yummy, he took a bite of his own dessert, a dreamy look crossing his face. "I love that I grew up with this luxury." He said with another laugh, shaking his head. "It's a wonder how food can possibly be this good!" He took another bite as soon as he finished speaking.

"Well I call 'em as I see 'em," Elizabeth shrugged. "I guess you warranted a second look," she teased. Somehow being around Anthony was better than being around her entire family while eating her Great-Grandmother's food. She felt a little guilty in admitting, to herself of course, that the dinner she had just eaten was ten times better than her great-grandmum's.

"Yeah," she nodded as he agreed with her. "I guess everything seems more alluring when you're around it everyday. I know paperwork doesn't." she muttered that last part but put a smirk on her face.

She smiled as she saw a huge grin break out on his face. It made him look better than he already did and that was saying something. "You grew up with this?" she asked amazed. "You lucky dog!"

Attractive, intelligent, and knew where to get great food? All the points in his favor kept going up.