Disclaimer: JKR owns everything. I enjoy playing with her characters without owning them or making money.

Hufflepuffs helping Hufflepuffs

Topic: Halloween in Hufflepuff
Time: Halloween of Harry's first Hogwarts year
Place: Hogwarts, Hufflepuff
Format: Oneshot
Content: Several of the Hufflepuff first years fall ill with the pixie fever; however, they don't want to miss the Halloween feast and try to hide it from everyone. However, Professor Sprout notices and has to look after them.
Conditions: Professor Sprout may call Poppy or someone else for help, but this should manly be a oneshot about the not so often mentioned characters. The pixie fever causes people's eyes to turn slightly green, sometimes also their skin, but not necessarily. They get a fever and have difficulties to write or cast spells, because their arms and legs tremble.
Deadline: 3rd of November, 2009.

"And there will be toffee and tarts and caramels and-"

Ernie MacMillan sighed. "We get the point Hannah. The feast's going to be amazing. We believe you." He stuffed his books back into his bag and capped his ink bottles. "I for one can't wait to get this over with. At least then we won't here about it every three seconds."

Susan Bones nodded. "Halloween feast this, Halloween feast that." She laughed, smiling at her friends. "Hannah, did you know that you even mutter things about it in your sleep?"

Hannah blushed lightly. "Sorry, but I'm excited! This year the Headmaster is suppose to be-"

Susan groaned. "You're starting again!" She warned. "We might just have to learn a gagging charm if this keeps up."

Ernie stood up and pulled his book bag onto his shoulder. "I'm heading back to the dormitories." He waved half heartedly to the other first years and headed out of the library. All day he'd been feeling odd, a headache and sort of dizzy, and studying was the last thing he wanted to be doing right now. The letters seemed to move in front of his eyes and he couldn't seem to write anything down.

"Wait!" Megan Jones called out, running up behind him. "I'll head back too. It's been a long day."

"A really long day." Ernie agreed. "I can't wait for the feast to be over. I'm not really hungry."

It didn't take long for Megan and Ernie to make their way into Hufflepuff and take seats in the back of the common room, far away from the fire. It felt sort of hot and stuffy in the common room, almost making them feel claustrophobic.

Sally-Ann was already sitting in one of the chairs. She looked up and smiled as the other two approached. "Hello. Looking forward to the Halloween feast?"

Megan nodded. "I can't wait. The Great hall is already amazing."

Ernie smiled at their mugglebornness. "My brother told me that Hagrid usually bring in giant pumpkins and that real bats fly around the ceiling." He grinned at Sally-Ann's enormous smile. "Your eyes look kind of weird." He told her, leaning in to get a closer look. "Greenish."

"So do yours." Megan said, looking at Ernie's eyes. "What about mine?"

"Green. Like a circle around your pupil." Sally-Ann told her. "Is there a charm to hide it? I don't want to miss the feast."

Megan nodded in agreement. "I don't know a spell. But maybe one of the older students does."

Ernie looked at them incredulously. "And what if they tell someone, like Professor Sprout? Then we'll never get to go to the feast!"

Sally-Ann sighed. "You've got a point. But somehow the feast doesn't seem as appetizing if we've got to worry about hiding this from the professors."

"Hiding what?" Kathleen Dwight, a sixth year prefect asked as she stopped in front of the three first years.

Megan gulped nervously. "Nothing. We were just wondering where to put some birthday gifts for a friend. We don't want her to find them."

Kathleen smiled happily. "Of course. I'll keep them for you. There's so extra space in my trunk." She pointed over to a large group of students congregating around the door that lead out into the halls. "We're heading off to the feast now. Would you like to join us?"

"Sure." Ernie stood up, glad to get out of the overly warm common room. He was counting on the cool air flowing throughout the school to help him cool off. And the feast to be as amazing as all the older students claimed it was.

The joyful Hufflepuffs made their way through the halls, shying away from the few Slytherins they past and settling themselves comfortably at the yellow and black table in the Great Hall, which was decorated for Halloween.

Ernie was not happy to find that the school seemed even warmer than the common room. He wished that he'd taken off the jeans he was wearing under his robe. It was obviously still too warm for them. Megan was sweating too, but no one else seemed to notice the heat that they were experiencing.

"Oh." Hannah practically moaned in ecstasy at the display of treats on the tables. Ice mice, pumpkin pasties, cauldron cakes, tarts and biscuits. She loaded her plate full and seemed to get as much fulfilment from starring at the food as she did from eating it.

Susan smiled at her friend and tried not to draw attention to the fact that she wasn't eating much. She was feeling slightly sick to her stomach and filling up on sugar didn't seem like a good idea. And it was rather difficult to eat, her hands were shaking and the spoon full of ice cream kept missing her mouth.

The other students may have not noticed the difficulties that the first years were experiencing. But the staff were more observant. And in a better position to keep watch over their charges. They weren't as distracted either. Kathleen might have been trying to eat active ice mice from her boyfriend's mouth, but she was glancing at the first years every time she had to turn around for more food.

"Pomona." Minerva McGonagall pushed the dish of ice mice Snape had offered her way and tried to ignore their squeaking. Sometimes when she was in her cat form she'd chase them around after rubbing them with cat nip. It was an intoxicating experience.

Pomona raised an eyebrow at her friend and stopped eating her chocolate covered nuts. "What is it?" She glanced out at the hall. "And why hasn't Professor Quirrel arrived yet? Is the poor man ill again?"

"Over there." Minerva nodded to the first year Hufflepuffs. "There's some kind of charm over them. It looks like accidental magic. You might want to check them out."

Pomona nodded an excused herself with the teachers before heading over to her house table.

"Happy Halloween Professor!" Hannah called happily. She was on a sugar high and not even rampaging trolls could dampen her spirits.

"Happy Halloween Hannah." Pomona glanced at the table. "Come with me please. All of you." Her eyes met with all the first years.

Ernie exchanged nervous glances with Megan and Sally-Ann before following their head of house into the hall. They headed down the back way, through a secret passage and missed the commotion about a troll in the school.

"Come in. And take a seat." Pomona said, with a smile as they entered her office. It wasn't a place she went very often since most of her work was in the greenhouses and the study in her quarters was a fine place to mark and take care of lesson plans.

Susan sat down with a sigh, letting her eyes close for a moment in relief. It was nice to get out of the hot, stuffy hall and relax. It was even nicer to sit down, her legs kept shaking as if they didn't want to support her body any more.

"Are you feeling all right Miss Bones?" Professor Sprout asked the girl. She looked healthy, almost too healthy as if there was a glamour charm over her.

"Fine." Susan opened her eyes. The last thing she wanted was for the school to have to contact Aunt Amelia. It was better if she could simply recover on her own.

Pomona nodded and took out her wand, setting it on her desk. "Professor McGonagall noticed that there is a glamour charm cast over the entirety of my first years. Is something wrong?"

Ernie exchanged looks with Megan and Sally-Ann. He still saw the green in their eyes and Susan didn't look well at all. Her skin appeared slightly green. "No professor. We're fine." He spoke for the group.

"Then I'll just remove the charm." With a wave of her wand, Pomona removed the spell and gasped at the changed appearance of her students. "Oh dear!" She stood up and hurriedly transfigured Susan Bones's chair into a camp bed so the girl could lie down.

"So tired." Susan groaned before curling up in a conjured blanket that the professor had spread over her. "Thanks."

Professor Sprout looked nervously over Susan's green skin and at the other students. Justin Flinch-Fletchley looked fine, as did Wayne Hopkins and Hannah Abbot. "Follow me please. We'll head into my quarters. You can rest more easily there."

It took three minutes for Pomona to transfigure her sitting room furniture into bed and blankets and pillows for her students. She changed their clothes into pyjamas and made sure that they were comfortably before returning to Miss Bones who seemed to be the worst off.

"Miss Bones, Susan. Please open your eyes."

It took Susan a lot of energy to open her eyes and look up at her head of house. "Hi." She sighed when the professor pressed a hand to her forehead and leaned into the cold touch. "Feels good."

"How do you feel?" Professor Sprout asked, conjuring a cloth and charming it cold before placing it on her student's forehead.

"Hot. And bad." Susan held up a hand to show the older woman how it was shaking. "I feel old."

Pomona almost laughed at that comment. "Just wait a little bit longer sweetie. I'll have Madame Pomfrey come and have a look at you." She said before floo calling the mediwitch who promised to arrive as soon as possible.

Ernie, Megan and Sally-Ann also had cold cloths applied to their foreheads and Professor Sprout found books for the three students who were feeling fine. She made them wait and get checked over, just in case whatever the others had was contagious.

"Pomona. I'm here." Poppy Pomfrey almost fell out of the fireplace once she finally arrived. There had been a few hysteria cases from the troll and she'd handed out calming drafts before settling the students in the Hospital wing. It had taken her longer than she'd planned.

"Oh thank goodness you're here." Pomona rushed over to her friend. "Miss Bones is turning green and her fever just keeps rising." She pointed at the girl. "I packed her legs with cold cloths, but it didn't seem to do anything."

"Just relax Pomona." Pomfrey took out her wand and cast a few diagnostic charms over Susan before crouching down next to the girl's bed and opening her eyes to look at her pupils. Sure enough, there was a green ring around them. "Wake up please Susan."

It took Susan a moment to convince her eyes to open. "Madame Pomfrey? Am I ill?"

Poppy nodded. "Miss Bones, have you come into contact with a pixie recently? Or anything from a pixie?"

Susan tried to think back, but her brain felt fuzzy and it was hard to remember anything. "Nu uh. Sorry madame."

"Yes we did!" Hannah set down the book on Herbology she'd been distracting herself with. "In Potions. There was dried pixie wings and we had to crush them up. Professor Snape kept complaining about the quality. But he's never happy with anything."

Poppy nodded and thanked her before running another diagnostic on Susan and repeating the spell on the other four affected. "They've caught the Pixie Fever. It's quite uncommon. I'll have to speak with Severus."

"But my students. They'll be fine?" Pomona asked. She hated seeing her students in discomfort and pain. And Susan certainly didn't look like she was having a good time.

"Yes. I've got some of the antidote, it keeps well." Poppy wrote down a few instructions. "They'll need a dose every few hours and they can't have any other potions, it would interact negatively. Give them lots of fluids. And you'll have to stay in quarantine for the next twelve hours. I'll inform the Headmaster."

Pomona nodded. "Thank you Poppy. I'll look after them."

"I'm sure you'll do a fine job." Madame Pomfrey floo'd out and sent the potions down in a crate shortly after she'd left.

It didn't take long to get Susan, Ernie, Sally-Ann and Megan their first doses of potion and Pomona encouraged everyone else to retire. It was getting late and the more of the twelve hours they could sleep away, the easier it would be to stay in her small quarters.

She took her own advice, casting a spell on the four sick students to make certain that she'd wake up if they needed her and took to her own bed. It hadn't been a usual Halloween. But November would be interesting.