A Halloween Carol
Chapter 2
The Ghost of Halloween Present
Sharon looked around for the young girl in the Halloween jedi costume but could not find her. Instead she saw a large man in a dark brown robe rifling through a child's Halloween bucket, "Laffy Taffy, Skittles, Air Heads, Ahh haa! " he exclaimed, "The grand prize of the Halloween bucket, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups" He said taking a bite of one, "Want one Captain Raydor?" He asked turning around to her.
Sharon gasped when she saw his long hair and unkempt beard, was this, no it couldn't be he wasn't real, "I'm sorry are you Rubeus Hagrid?" She asked him.
The man let out a loud laugh, "Why would you be sorry to ask that? It's a splendid question. Maybe I am. Maybe I am not. Today is Halloween you can be whoever you want to be! Isn't that splendid. And of course there are treats which makes it even better." He said offering her the peanut butter cup again.
Sharon took it from him and shook her head, "But who are you really and where am I?" she asked
"I Captain, am the Ghost of Halloween Present and watch for a minute and you will see where we are." He said as he bite into another piece of candy.
"Connor, Mitchell, are you guys ready?" A familiar woman's voice came through the house and Sharon at the man next to her just as the woman walked into view, "That's Nichole this must be her and Dean's house. I am supposed to come here with Andy tomorrow night." Sharon watched as the two young boys came running into the living room dressed in smaller versions of the robes that she and Andy had worn a few years before. It was then that she realized it was already Halloween.
"Oh good Gryffindor for both of them! Hufflepuff would have been all right or Ravenclaw I suppose but nobody should aspire to Slythern. They will make fine additions to Gryffindor I can tell." The man next to her said.
Sharon laughed, "They are just Halloween costumes. They aren't really wizards."
"Oh but tonight they are Captain. Tonight they can be whoever they want, so can Andy, so can you." He told her. Just then the doorbell rang and the boys jumped and ran to answer it and both screamed at the same time, "Grandpa!"
Sharon looked on in disbelief as she saw Andy standing there in his Ron costume from a few years before, "I understand Harry Potter lives here! What is this? Two Harry Potters? It must be a spell!"
"Grandpa! It's us!" The boys laughed taking of their glasses. Andy hugged them both and moved to hug his daughter and shake Dean's hand. "Can we go trick or treating now?" the boys asked.
Nichole looked at her father curious why he had showed up alone. She had thought Sharon was coming with him and then they were going to the LAPD costume party afterwards. "Why don't you two go with your Dad to start and Grandpa and I can hand out candy. Then we can switch off." She suggested wanting the opportunity to talk to her father. Dean nodded and the boys ran to the door. After they left Nichole turned to Andy.
"OK Dad, what's going on?" She asked him. "You and Sharon are hardly ever apart since you two officially started dating. I thought you had big plans for tonight. What happened? Were you stupid?"
Andy let out a small laugh as he sat down on her couch, "I honestly don't know what happened Sweetheart all I can tell you is that Sharon really doesn't like Halloween and when I tried to find out why she totally shut me out. She said she wanted nothing to do with it and then pretty much shoved me out last night. Now I haven't heard from her all day. I texted her and called her and she won't talk to me. I have no idea what's going on."
Sharon reached into her pocket to look at her phone and it wasn't there. "No phones tonight Captain." Her companion told her. Sharon felt disappointment growing in herself over how she had treated Andy.
"I'm really sorry Dad. Something must really be bothering her that doesn't sound like Sharon at all." Nichole said.
Andy shook his head, "I don't know Nichole I mean she can be so private but usually we can talk about anything and we've told each other a lot over the last few years and even more the last few months but she's closing me out of whatever this is. I don't know what to do."
"Well what do you want to do Dad?" She asked him.
"I want to go over to her house and hold her and tell her that she can tell me anything. That if we are going to work we have to trust each other. I want to tell her that I love her and I want her in my life more every day."
Sharon gasped when she heard Andy say that he loved her. Those were words that they had not said to each other yet. The words did not come as a surprise because the truth was Andy always made her feel loved. Yet to actually hear him say it was a different matter.
"So have you told her that Dad, that you love her?" Nichole asked quietly.
"No, because I am afraid that I will scare her off and that she will shut me out. But I do love her Nic, more than I can probably say."
Sharon felt the tears start to form in her eyes. "I don't mean to shut you out Andy. I really don't" she whispered and got up to go to him.
"He can't see you Captain and you have to decide what you want." He told her.
"What do you mean?" She asked him.
"Look around you Sharon, there is so much happiness and love waiting for you. Andy loves you and wants a life with you but you have to be willing to take a chance on him."
"And if I don't, what happens then?" She whispered.
"That's not for me to show you." Hagrid said his smile turning downward as he began to fade as Sharon found herself sitting on the couch in her condo alone in the darkness.
TBC
A/N Obviously none of the Harry Potter characters or references are mine because well JK Rowling I am not. And special thanks to Ameddancesforyou for the idea of using Hagrid as the Ghost of Halloween present.
