NIGHTSHADE | marvel x hp

051

To say that the room was a mess would be an awful understatement.

It looked like a war zone actually.

A glamorous, glitter-strewn kind of war zone.

There were shoes everywhere. Curls. Perfume in the air. Ribbons. A hairbrush was levitating for no good reason.

"Stop moving or I'll mess this up" Wanda muttered, one hand in Aria's hair while the other charmed the zipper of her dress up.

"I'm not moving," Aria said through gritted teeth.

"You blinked," Natasha commented from the couch, flipping through a stack of discarded accessories like she was deciding what to throw to Aria next.

Pansy sniffled loudly near the mirror. "It's just not sitting right."

Wanda sighed and walked over. "Hold still." She snapped her fingers lightly — a faint red glow— and Pansy's curls fell perfectly into place.

Pansy froze. "...Oh my god."

"Better?" Wanda asked.

Pansy blinked at herself in the mirror. "You're a goddess. I take back every bad thing I said about redheads."

Natasha smirked. "You said bad things about redheads?"

Pansy's eyes went wide. "No! I— I meant—"

The two women raised a brow.

Across the room, Aria stepped back from the mirror. The silver-blue fabric of her dress shimmered every time she moved, catching the candlelight in soft waves. It was absolutely beautiful— Natasha made the right choice in picking this one for her.

"Alright," Wanda said, giving her a once-over. "Turn around."

Aria did a slow spin.

Natasha squinted. "Hmm. Looks good."

The holo-screen on the wall flickered to life — Pepper's face appeared, her background sleek and modern as ever.

"Oh, there she is!" Pepper said, beaming. "Let me see properly, come on."

Aria hesitated, then turned again.

Pepper pressed a hand to her chest. "Sweetheart, you look beautiful."

"Thanks, mom," Aria said softly, a little shy despite her usual sass.

"She really does," Wanda agreed.

"She's gonna turn heads." Natasha nodded. "Tony's not going to like this."

"Speaking of," Wanda muttered, glancing toward the locked door. "He's been trying to break in for the past twenty minutes."

Aria groaned. "Are all dads this annoying for no reason?"

The man had billions of dollars, a global tech empire, multiple Iron Man suits, and — apparently — nothing better to do than ruin his kid's potential romantic prospects during his downtime.

Everyone in the room laughed at the exasperated teen. "Come on, one picture before you go?"

Aria smiled. "Yeah, sure." She pulled Pansy to stand next to her. "Say cheese."

Wanda held up her phone, tilting her head. "Okay, ready? Three, two—"

The flash went off.

Pansy looked at the picture, absolutely glowing. "I've never done this before. Like— ever. I love it."

Aria smiled, looping her arm through hers. "We'll make it worth it then."

"What happened to your dates?" Wanda suddenly asked.