AN: So, here is my Halloween fic. It's just pure fluff, no actual plot to it and it kind of got away from me. Anyway, shout to Shena1 for allowing me to use her Harry Potter themed party idea and Castle's costume. If you have not read her stuff, you should, she's an awesome writer. As always, constructive criticism is welcome.
Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.
Kate smiled as she took a sip of punch from her gold colored goblet. To say she was impressed by the sight before her would be an understatement; she was amazed. If she had thought the way the Castles decorated the house for Christmas was insane, the Halloween decorations almost topped it.
Her fiancé had gone all out for the Halloween party this year. He had insisted upon having a Harry Potter-themed party, claiming it was going to be one of the best Halloween parties he had thrown. At the time, Kate had just smiled and shook her head in amusement. However, her jaw almost dropped when she walked through the door earlier that day and saw the decorating in progress.
The loft had been transformed into Hogwarts, or at least as much as it could be. The banners of the four houses adorned four walls of the loft, each taking up the wall it occupied and almost touching the floor. The staircase had been covered in red carpeting that was trimmed with gold. A sign was hung near the staircase saying, 'To the Gryffindor Common Room.' The family photos had been temporarily replaced with photos with actual moving images. Kate had never even known those types of photos existed. When she asked how he got them, Rick had just given her a mischievous smile and said he 'knew a guy'.
The lights in the loft had been dimmed for the party, and a projector in the back of the room gave the illusion of dementors floating across the ceiling. "Hedwig's Theme" played lowly in the background for effect. Also, small snacks and sweets in the shapes of mummies, spiders, pumpkins, and ghosts filled the counter. The brunette smiled to herself. Her fiancé had certainly outdone himself this year.
As she looked around, Kate spotted the subject of her thoughts approaching her, dressed in full costume. She had laughed earlier when he had shown her his costume, complete with a mask, wand, and snake.
"Sorry," he apologized, his voice muffled slightly due to the mask. "I was just letting some more guests in." He gestured toward the door that had the sign 'Platform 9 3/4' hanging over it.
"That's fine. You are the host after all, my Lord," she teased him, rapping her fake finger nails against her cup.
"Glad to see you're respecting my title." Despite the mask, she could tell he was smirking.
"Enjoy it while it lasts," she shot back as he adjusted the snake draped across his neck.
"I will, my Lady," he mocked. Kate rolled her eyes and smiled.
After endless begging, he had eventually convinced to dress up as a couple. He was Voldemort and she was his 'Dark Lady'. Her costume was not overly sexual, just a long black dress that fitted her in the right places. Rick seemed to love it though and he had almost not finished setting up when he had first seen her in it. She had even put on fake, matching finger nails for fun. Along with the smokey eye look and her hair in a neat, high bun, Kate definitely looked liked she was head of a creepy manor.
"So, are you enjoying the party so far?" he asked her as he took some punch from the cauldron-shaped bowl on the counter.
"Yep. You definitely have outdone yourself, Castle," she remarked as she looked around at the crowd. Everyone was having fun, especially since the real monsters seemed to be taking a rest for the night.
"Well, almost," he said. She raised an eyebrow in question. "I had wanted to get the miniature train set of Hogwarts Express, except the catalogue company was sold out of it."
"What? You didn't go for the life-size one?"
"Of course not," Rick huffed. "That one was discontinued a few years ago. Besides, that only had the first two cars. I want the whole set."
Kate chuckled. "You really are such a child sometimes."
"But you love me anyway," Rick teased.
"Yep." She smiled.
A moment later, Captain Gates walked over to the punch bowl.
"I have to say, you throw quite a party, Castle," she said, refilling her cup.
"Thank you, Captain," Rick said respectfully.
"My husband got a little excited when we received an invitation to Hogwarts' annual Halloween party." She chuckled
"I thought it was a nice touch," Castle said, grinning and Kate just rolled her eyes. The invitation had been sent in the form of Hogwarts acceptance letters. Kate had even received one, which Castle told her to frame. "It's a shame you didn't dress up though."
"I would've," Gates remarked. "However, the costume I had planned to wear disappeared from my closet." She narrowed her eyes. "I'm questioning Robert about that later. Well, time to go mingle with other people." The captain disappeared back into the crowd.
"How much alcohol did you put in the punch?" Kate asked.
Rick shrugged. "Not that much. Besides, that only like her third cup, right? They're not that big."
"Just don't let her go beyond five," she warned. Rick nodded in agreement. "Where's Lanie?" she asked suddenly. She had not seen her friend since the beginning of the party.
"I think I saw her by the Snitch Catcher. Esposito was with her."
The Snitch Catcher was really just the game of bobbing for apples. However, the apples had been painted with edible gold paint and sugar wings had been attached to them. Martha had volunteered to monitor the game and even dressed up as Professor Trelawney, minus the glasses.
"I'm surprised they came together," Kate remarked.
"Well, if the Esposito's costume says anything, the relationship is platonic," Rick quipped.
"Speak of the devil," Kate muttered, grinning as the sort-of couple walked over.
"Hey, you two," Lanie greeted. "Nice party, Castle." She was dressed in what almost to be her work scrubs. However, the scrubs Lanie was wearing had more blood on them and were slightly torn in places. Lanie carried a imitation scalpel in her shirt pocket. Her hair was in slight disarray. Esposito's costume was that of a typical zombie risen from the grave or, rather morgue. Some of the makeup he worn had washed off, presumably from apple bobbing.
"Yeah, not bad," Esposito commended. "Nice way to do the theme."
Rick chuckled. "Well, I try. By the way, where are Jenny and Ryan?"
"Right here!" Jenny called out, slightly waddling. She was in a white nurse costume and Kevin was of course a doctor.
"I like you costume, Jenny," Kate commented, smiling. The blonde just huffed.
"There's not much in maternity costumes. It was either this or the pink fairy costume. And since Kevin refused to dress up as Peter Pan," she narrowed her eyes at her husband; "I had to choose this one."
Ryan held his hands up in defense. "Hey, I draw the line at wearing tights."
His wife squinted at him. "Then you get to sleep on the couch."
"Ouch, bro," Esposito snickered. He was silenced by an elbow in the ribs from Lanie.
"At least he's getting some." Lanie gave him a smirk.
"Well, I'll let you know that I have been getting some."
"Really? Who?" Castle chimed in, smirking.
"Yeah, who Espo? We want to know," Kate taunted.
"Well, uh, her name's Sarah and she's a brunette, tall, smart, nice legs," Esposito began.
"Oh please, that's a lie," Castle said. "You haven't been seeing anyone, have you?"
Esposito's scowl was all the answer his friends needed. There was a collection of snickers. "All right, that's enough. So, Castle, are you going to be doing anything special tonight? Pranks? Weird apparitions suddenly appearing?"
Rick shook his head. "No, not this year. Even if I was, I wouldn't tell you." He winked.
"And you would also be on the couch," Kate teased.
"Hey! It's still my loft," Rick protested.
"Which I will soon be occupying permanately," Kate shot back, smiling.
"Yeah, well, you can't resist my magic wand." Rick waggled his eyebrows.
"Really Castle? Magic wand?" Ryan asked dryly.
Rick was about to respond, when there was a knock at the door.
"Those must be more kids, I'll get it," Kate volunteered, grabbing the bowl full of candy off the counter. She weaved her way through the crowd and opened the door. Three small children dressed in adorable costumes stood there holding out their bags.
"Trick or treat!" they cried in unison.
"I love your costumes," Kate said smiling. "Let's see, we have a princess?" The little girl nodded vigorously.
"I'm Rapunzel!" She said happily, tugging at her long hair.
"Yes, of course! Now, Luke Skywalker?" Kate pretended to be confused
The boy shook his head. "Anakin!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, my mistake." Kate chuckled. "Finally, we have, Flash?"
The boy nodded, puffing out his chest with pride, showing off his lightening bolt.
"Great! Well, here you go!" Kate placed a full size candy bar into each of the children's bags.
"Wow, these are big!" said the boy in the Anakin costume. Kate chuckled.
"All right you three, time to move on," a female voice called out.
"Yes, Mom," the three children said. "Thank you!" they said to Kate.
"You're welcome! Happy Halloween!" Kate said. The woman the children were with smiled at her and waved.
"Happy Halloween and congratulations on your engagement!" the woman said.
Kate blinked in surprise, but just smiled. After thanking the woman, Kate shut the door and placed the bowl on the table near the door. As Kate began to move her way through the crowd again, she heard the clinking of an object hitting glass. Everyone in the room fell silent as Rick raised his goblet.
"I want to make a speech, but I need my Dark Lady to join me," Rick said, having taken his mask off to be heard. There was a collective chuckle from the crowd. Kate smiled as she took Rick's outstretched hand. He then wrapped his arm around her waist.
"I just want to thank everyone for joining us tonight! It's a real pleasure having you here for this night of mischief and hopefully we all make plenty of mischief the rest of the year." Everyone snickered. "Also, may we also have many more Halloweens to come!" There was a loud 'here, here!' from everyone.
"Also, a toast to Ricky," Patterson spoke up from the crowd. "For finally getting the girl. Unfortunately this means that Rick will never shut up about you at games now." Kate rolled her eyes while there were scattered snickers throughout the crowd. Patterson grew serious again. "You two seem to make great partners catching the real ghouls of this world and been there for each other through thick and thin. Hopefully, it will be the same in marriage and be as magical as tonight's theme. Congratulations on your engagement Katherine Beckett and Richard Castle." The guests broke into a loud applause directed at the couple. Kate smiled and leaned her head on her fiancé's shoulder.
Once the crowd quieted down and everyone returned to chatting amongst themselves, Rick turned to his fiancé.
"You were great with the kids at the door," he said smiling.
Kate smiled, not surprised that he had been paying attention. "They're cute in their costumes, it's fun to see them during Halloween."
"And the rest of the year?"
Kate knew what he was getting at and chuckled. "They're okay, I guess."
"Just okay?"
"Maybe more than okay," she conceded. "Just promise me one thing."
"What's that?" Rick's tone turned curious.
"Don't try to to teach our kids how to fly a broomstick."
AN: So, there it is! Once again, thank you to Shena1 for letting me use her idea. I wound up making up a lot of the decorations though. It's hard to find interesting Harry Potter decorations! Anyway, as always, constructive criticism is welcome.