A/N: This is in response to Zombie Reine's Halloween Competition. My prompt was:
Prompt: Everything comes to an end.
Object: A black hooded cloak.
Monster: Death
This is an odd mix of humor and horror, but I'm pretty satisfied with it. I hope the rest of you feel the same way.
ALL HALLOW'S EVE
Everything comes to an end and at the moment, Hermione was grateful for that fact.
There she was, standing in front of the open doorway to Harry's and her apartment in downtown London, covered from head to toe in both black and orange slime. Underneath all that muck, she was wearing a cozy and lightweight white sweater and jeans, but the coating of slime was so thick that it was impossible to tell.
The slime was courtesy of an eight year-old Muggle girl named Liv, whom Hermione had been babysitting for the afternoon. Liv and her single mother were friends of someone else who lived in Harry and Hermione's apartment building, and that friend had volunteered Hermione to babysit Liv. Hermione made a mental note to give that friend a taste of the Bat Bogey curse the next time she saw them.
"I'm so sorry about this," Liv's mom, Eve, apologized to Hermione. Eve had flowing black hair and dark eyes to match, along with the appearance of a woman whose job mattered a lot to her: hair in a tight bun and a sharp business pantsuit. "Liv's never done something like this before."
"Well then, I should consider myself lucky, shouldn't I?" It took a great amount of effort on Hermione's part to keep her temper beneath her slime-covered exterior. "If you go now, we need never talk about this again."
Liv, who shared her mother's black hair and had a backpack slung across her shoulder, was currently staring up at Hermione with defiant eyes. Hermione couldn't understand it. What exactly had she done to Liv to warrant getting slimed as well as other forms of torment inflicted on her?
Eve gently turned her daughter away and got her started on the way down the hall, toward the right. "Again, I'm so sorry. She'll be punished for this, don't worry."
Hermione merely nodded as Eve walked away in the direction her daughter had taken. Not five seconds after Eve left Hermione's line of sight, Harry appeared in the doorway, coming from the same direction.
Harry got a proper look at Hermione and raised his eyebrows in amusement. He opened his mouth to say something, but Hermione cut him off.
"Don't."
She turned around and glided through their apartment, the slime on her giving her a strange feeling as she did so. Harry entered behind Hermione and closed the door.
Harry and Hermione had moved in together almost immediately after graduating Hogwarts. Each had pursued careers in the Ministry shortly thereafter, already in a romantic relationship by this point, and Hermione had pleasantly surprised Harry by becoming an Auror just like him. They had decided to become partners, thus disproving the belief that romance couldn't be properly handled within the workplace. Together, Harry and Hermione had successfully accomplished numerous Auror missions and caught a great deal of Dark Wizards within the course of three years. There wasn't a problem too big for them to handle. Well, except in Hermione's case, maybe a mischievous little girl.
"So how'd the babysitting go?" Harry asked lightly.
Hermione whirled around, swiping slimy bits of hair behind her ears. "How does it look like it went? That little girl is a menace! One minute, she's all sweet and cute, but the next, she's pushing me into a bathtub filled with slime! We should keep an eye on her, in case she grows up to be some sort of criminal."
Harry stepped closer to his girlfriend. "Sorry, honey, but I don't think sliming an Auror constitutes surveillance on a person." He gave her a wicked smile.
"Well, one thing's for certain. I'm never babysitting a kid just a few hours before Halloween night again ever. At least Liv will get what she deserves by probably being denied to go to that Halloween party tonight that she mentioned."
Just then, Harry leaned in towards Hermione, but Hermione pulled back.
"Harry!" she said, slightly surpised. "Stop, I'm all messy."
"That's never stopped us before," Harry grinned as he kissed Hermione, despite the slime. "Mmm," he commented after they broke apart, "at least it tastes good." He glanced down at his watch. "Okay, we have to be at the office's Halloween Party in an hour. So unless you plan to go dressed as The Swamp Thing, you should take a shower."
"No, you think?" Hermione playfully punched his shoulder, which left behind orange residue. "But don't forget…we need to take that book by the Magical Artifact Division before we go to the party."
Harry nodded. Their most recent Auror mission had taken them on a journey to a secret temple somewhere in the Amazonian jungle, where a Dark Wizard had been attempting to use a book called The Book of the Devil to summon forth Death itself in physical form. Fortunately, Harry and Hermione had managed to stop the ritual and recover the Book, but the Dark Wizard had escaped.
"Don't worry, we will. Now, go get ready. I need to do the same myself."
Harry and Hermione each went to their respective places for party preparation: Harry, the bedroom and Hermione, the bathroom. The first thing Hermione did after locking the bathroom door was use her wand to remove the slime that Liv had somehow managed to fill the tub with. Next, she removed her messy clothes, placed them in a heap beside the laundry bin, and stepped into the shower/tub. Hermione reveled in the hot water as it washed away the ickiness. She couldn't help but admire the gorgeous engagement ring on her left hand once the slime had been washed off of it.
Half an hour later, Hermione was standing in front of her and Harry's bedroom mirror, dressed in an elegant and perfectly-fitting pink cocktail dress. It was the kind of dress that accentuated every curve appropriately and showed off the right amount of cleavage; it was one of Harry's favorites.
Hermione was in the process of securing her second earring when she suddenly heard Harry call out from the living room/kitchen.
"Hermione!"
His voice sounded urgent, so Hermione quickly, but safely, secured her earring and went to where Harry was.
"What is it, Harry?"
Harry, who was dressed in a black suit with an orange shirt, stood beside the bookshelf situated to the left of the T.V. and to the immediate left of Hermione as she walked in. He had a confused look on his face.
"We put the Book on this shelf a few days ago for safekeeping." He pointed a finger at the fourth shelf from the bottom, which had a noticeable gap in between two books in the center. "It was here this morning. Why is it gone?"
Hermione looked where Harry was pointing and cocked an eyebrow. "I didn't touch it, and I was here all day. Unless someone-" Hermione gasped, then balled her hands angrily. "Why, that little brat! Liv must've took it and put it in her backpack during one of her pranks on me!"
"Why would she steal a random book?"
"The cover has rubies encrusted in it. I'd say that'd catch a little girl's attention." Hermione stormed over to the red couch on the other side of the room and plopped down. "If a little girl has The Book of the Devil, a book containing Dark Magic powerful enough to summon Death itself, then that creates a major problem."
Harry sat down beside his fiancée and rubbed her back soothingly. "Relax. Take a breath. We're just going to have to find her and get it back."
"But how? I'd never even met Liv or Eve before today."
"You said something about a Halloween Party Liv was supposed to go to? Well, why don't we start there?"
Hermione looked up into Harry's eyes, astonished that she hadn't thought of that herself. "Of course! And there's only one Elementary School in this area…Highsgrove. But there is the issue of not only whether Eve allowed Liv to still go, but also how we're going to get into that party without any kids or chaperones noticing."
"If she isn't there, then we'll ask anybody who may know her Mum. If she is, though, we'll just pretend to be chaperones or something."
"Okay. Well, c'mon, we don't have time to waste."
As one, Harry and Hermione got to their feet and Disapparated from the apartment. They reappeared seconds later inside what looked to be the main lobby of Highsgrove Elementary School. Luckily, they had appeared in an abandoned corner of the lobby, so no one actually noticed their arrival.
The lobby of Highsgrove Elementary School was flooded with a good number of children who were all dressed in various costumes; some were superheroes, some were cartoon characters and others were monsters from pop culture. A few adults, obviously parents, rose above the short people here and there. The one thing they had in common was that they all were migrating towards an open set of double doors to the far right.
Harry and Hermione went with the flow and followed the crowd. Soon enough, they were coming up on a desk where two other, costumed, adults were handing out nametags to a few parents. Hermione stopped in her tracks.
"Harry, two things just occurred to me."
"What's that, love?"
"Well, first of all, doesn't it strike you as odd that a school would hold a party on Halloween night, a time when kids are normally out trick or treating?"
Harry glanced around curiously. "Yeah. Yeah, it does. But if Liv is really here, I don't care how strange it may seem."
"Second, if we're supposed to be chaperones, why aren't we wearing costumes?"
Harry grinned. "Well, for one, because of the debacle last year with Ron's Weird Sister costume debacle, Kingsley forbade any costumes on Halloween from then on. Ron in leather pants…definitely not a good sight."
"Harry, I'm serious."
"Well, I could say I'm a…rich businessman from a Muggle movie, and you…" Harry looked Hermione up and down, "…can actually pass for a princess. You're beautiful enough." He kissed her full-on, which made a few kids around them make gagging sounds.
They broke apart and approached the desk, where a woman dressed a disgusting old hag regarded them through a mask of fake warts.
"Chaperones?" she asked casually.
"Yes," replied Harry.
"Names?" The hag consulted a clipboard.
"We're…last-minute chaperones," said Hermione.
Without missing a beat, the hag slid over two blank nametags. "Then write your names and you can go in."
Harry and Hermione did so, but as they wrote their names, a spine-tingling round of children's laughter filled the air. It was loud enough to drown out the chatter around Harry and Hermione, and there was an echo to it that especially disconcerted them. As they stuck their nametags to their shoulders, Harry and Hermione waved it off as an echo from the gym behind the desk.
But when Harry glanced back down to look at the hag, for a split second, he thought the warts and pale skin color had become more pronounced. The warts appeared to be genuinely oozing pus and her facial expression seemed to be more sinister. But the image disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared, and Harry told himself it must've been a trick of the light.
"Go on in," said the hag rather pleasantly.
Harry and Hermione nodded and stepped through the open gym doorway.
The gym was decorated to the nines for the party, with the primary color scheme being red and black. Lights of that color shone from high above, as did cobwebs, ghouls and fake spiders along with a twirling disco ball that added a glittering effect to the dark colors. Music, fast-paced yet creepy, blared from speakers shoved against the walls and a DJ dressed as a skeleton was working the music over on the right side. The left side of the gym was the refreshment area. Punch, cakes, some type of thick, white dip and other snacks populated two tables that sat side by side. Costumed kids danced heatedly to the music in the center, while the chaperones roamed the sides slowly. It was a typical school dance.
"So how do we find her?" Hermione yelled over the roar of the music.
"Split up!" Harry shouted back. "If one of us finds her, wait by the snacks."
"Got it."
And with that, Harry and Hermione peeled off into the raving crowd and began to weave in and out of frantically moving kids. Neither of them noticed the gym doors closing and locking ominously behind them, nor the fact that the big crowd in the lobby had suddenly vanished.
A couple of kids bumped into Hermione on more than one occasion as she made her way through the crowd, but she didn't pay attention to them. She was currently focused on locating Liv.
And she finally did when her eyes scanned across the area directly in front of the snack tables. Liv was grouped together with a few other girls, and they all had on black hooded cloaks. Not only that, but they were also staring with a suspicious air of amusement at Hermione. Without hesitation, Hermione made her way towards them.
But along the way, something happened with Hermione's right high heeled shoe which caused the bottom to snap and send Hermione stumbling. As a result, Hermione bent forward, but as she did, she could distinctly hear a ripping sound come from behind her. Looking nervously up, Hermione could see that Liv and her friends were smiling with satisfaction at her. Just as nervously, Hermione reached behind her to feel a rip in her dress right above her underwear. What was worse was that she couldn't straighten herself up; some unseen force was holding her in her current position.
All of a sudden, the faces of Liv and her friends turned to those of what looked like demons. Their faces were now gray and hideous and contorted into frightening scowls. Low grumbling accompanied the sight, as well as Harry's shout of "Hermione!"
The next thing Harry and Hermione knew, all the lights abruptly died out and the music ceased. The Aurors were plunged into darkness. The only sound now was echoing footsteps, a single pair, and then that same round of ominous children's laughter pervaded the air once again.
With a resounding snap, a white cone of bright light shone down on Hermione, and now she noticed that Harry was right beside her. He straightened her up from her bent position.
Just then, another beam of white light snapped on, illuminating the snack tables. Harry and Hermione stared at them for what seemed like hours until finally, both the punch bowl and the dip bowl began levitating of their own accord…levitating towards Harry and Hermione.
Harry and Hermione struggled to move, but found that they were stuck. The bowls floated through the air until they were directly above Harry and Hermione. As expected, both bowls turned over, covering Harry and Hermione in the red punch and the white dip.
The lights went out again and the laughter started back up, even louder and more daunting this time.
Thirty seconds later, Harry and Hermione were lit by a light once more, only this time, it was blood red.
And this time, images leered out at their muck-covered forms all around them, visible because of the light. They were images of demonic faces with sharp teeth, glinting evil eyes and haunting expressions. One of them lashed out with its pale green tongue, which extended out of its mouth and encircled Harry and Hermione. It wrapped them tightly together, back to back, so that all they could do was wriggle uselessly against the bonds.
After that, a hooded black cloak sprung forth from the ground, and hung in midair until a figure materialized inside of it: a literal skeletal figure that was all bones and no flesh. A staff with a large curved blade at the top materialized beside the skeleton's left hand, and the skeleton caught it.
This was The Grim Reaper…Death Itself.
The red light expanded to fill the entire gym, which was now completely empty.
"Who dares awaken me?" The voice was nothing more than a faint whisper, yet it filled Harry and Hermione's ears as if it had been shouted.
"I do," came a voice from the shadows. From those shadows stepped Julian, the Dark Wizard whom Harry and Hermione had stopped from using the Book only days earlier. The young couple regarded him with a mixture of anger and shock. "I see you two fell for my trap."
Julian had closely cropped brown hair and wore a flawless black business suit, much like Harry's.
"Trap?" Harry spat angrily.
"Yes." Julian turned his focus to Hermione. "You see, I managed to put a charm over that little girl you watched over today. And once I did, I told her to submerge you, much to your embarrassment, in this." Julian held up a container of the orange and black slime. "It contains a charm that makes whoever comes into contact with it see an illusion created by its possessor. Because you were covered in it, you could see the illusion. The same is true for Potter, because I believe he kissed you while the slime was still on you."
"So the party-" Hermione began.
"Wasn't real. That girl was still under my influence when she mentioned it. She, along with everybody else, was never here. She also stole The Book back for me. Now you can witness me master Death."
"No one can master Death," said Harry. "Even Voldemort couldn't."
"Well, things are about to change."
Julian walked closer to Death, who was standing peacefully in front of Harry and Hermione, but still a good distance away. Harry quickly shot Hermione a look that told her everything was under control. Hermione gave him one back that clearly said, "What?"
Julian extracted a jagged dagger from the inside of his coat and gripped it tightly. He raised it, poised to strike at Death, when suddenly the gym doors were knocked off their hinges by a brilliant blue light.
Death hissed angrily as Julian was knocked backwards by a Stunning Spell. At the same time, the regular lights of the gym came back on.
Countless Aurors came in hurriedly, wands at the ready. Death quickly evaporated into a column of smoke and vanished into the pages of the Book, which had been below Death's cloak.
Harry and Hermione's bonds evaporated into nothingness.
Ron, one of the Aurors on the scene, approached his two friends. "You two look gorgeous." He indicated the punch and dip that still covered Harry and Hermione.
"I see you got my message," said Harry.
Ron nodded as Hermione asked, "What message?"
"The one I sent while you were ripping your dress," replied Harry.
Ron smiled at Hermione. "You ripped your dress?"
"Not important," Hermione shot back as Julian was hauled away beside the three of them.
Ron sighed. "Well…are you two still up for the real party? We already have punch and snacks, so there's no need to bring your own."
Harry and Hermione lightly shoved both of Ron's shoulders before Apparating back to their apartment to change.