Disclaimer: … "And I'm breaaaaaaaaakkkkkkkking the haaaaaabit-". Looks around. "Oops. Silly me. Disclaimer time already, huh? Well, as normal, I don't own Harry Potter. Or Draco. Or Zaran. Or…hang on, I do own Zaran! But he won't be appearing in the fic."

One Step at a Time

Halloween Horrors

Hermione slid into a seat between Ron and Ginny, Harry sitting next to Ginny. "How's it feel to be back to normal classes?" Ginny asked, handing a pitcher of orange juice to Hermione.

"Very good," Hermione grinned, pouring herself a glass and then pulling a platter of English muffins towards her. "No more Divination."

"But I thought you liked Divination," Ron said, stealing one of the muffins from her plate.

"Yeah," Harry chimed in. "You, at least, got good fortunes when we did the lightning thing. Although you still haven't fulfilled the stair warning…or the gold. But you completed the third."

"The third?" Hermione asked absent-mindedly, spreading a glob of raspberry jam over her breakfast.

"Yeah," Harry smirked. "The one about falling in love with the unexpected. I do think that a certain Slytherin has caught your attention…"

"What! No! I don't like Draco like that! We're just friends!" Hermione cried, waving her hands frantically in front of her face, butter knife coming very close to Ron's head.

"I never said it was Draco," Harry grinned, smirk growing wider.

"But you implied it," Hermione countered, lowering the knife back to her plate, much to Ron's relief. "And stop smirking! It's not funny!"

"You're blushing," Ginny giggled, high-fiving Harry beneath the table. They'd just made progress.

"No, I'm not!" the Gryffindor prefect defended, cheeks becoming even pinker. Hermione was saved further embarrassment by the gentle tinkling of a spoon being tapped against a glass.

Immediately, she turned full to the front of the room so that her back was to Ginny and her eyes focused determinedly on Dumbledore, who had just risen to his feet.

"Good morning," he beamed, blue eyes twinkling merrily. "I would like to once more congratulate the sixth year students for successfully completing the Parenting Class. By this Saturday you should all have received your grade for the class."

Hermione paled. "There was a grade," she whispered. "I think I failed." Reaching forward, she grabbed a handful of Ron's sweater and pulled him so that he was facing her. "Ron- I think I failed!"

"You did fine," he comforted, patting her gently on the knee as Dumbledore continued to inform the students of the Hogsmeade visit coming up in two days- three days prior to Halloween.

"No, I didn't! I turned Harry into a teapot! That's injuring the child! I'll get a T!"

"If they're basing it all on one incident, then me and Draco both failed," Harry pointed out. "With you as a kid…we must have gotten a T minus for endangering the rest of the students. But if you count the time I watched Draco and he watched me, it was pretty uneventful accident wise."

"And we let Draco fall into a tub of Sleeping Potion! That's going to have some effect too! And the damage to the room, and Harry going to Diagon Alley and-"

"Relax," Ginny ordered, placing both of her hands firmly on Hermione's shoulders. "You got a wonderful grade, probably an E or an O. I'm sure the teachers aren't going to count all of that against you."

"I hope they don't ask for teacher input," Ron admitted nervously. "When Terry bit Snape I thought we were done for."

"And you stabbing him in the butt with a fork counts as…?" Ginny asked, rolling her eyes. "Would you guys relax?" she asked, looking at the three nervous sixth years seated near her. "You all did fine. Now be quiet, Dumbledore's talking."

"-so third years, make sure that you have your permission forms signed and ready to hand to Mr. Filch on October twenty-seventh. And one more quick announcement before you head off to your classes. Your teachers and I have been talking, and we've decided to liven things up a bit for Halloween this year. So, we'll be having a dance."

Hermione groaned. "Dress shopping? This is Hogwarts! We just had the Yule Ball two years ago…"

"It'll be fun," Ginny exclaimed, red hair bouncing up and down as she bounced on her foot. "We can go shopping at the Hogsmeade trip for dresses, although I'm not sure where we'll find dresses out here, and we can go get our nails done!"

"At least I won't have to wear my old dress robes again," Ron muttered. "I have the new blue ones Fred and George bought me."

"At least I have a date this year," Harry mused, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"One more thing," Dumbledore called, the room quieting once more. "I regret to inform you that this isn't going to be a formal dance. In fact, you don't have to dance at all if you wish. The Weird Sisters will be playing and a dance floor will be put in. But in truth, this is a costume party."

"Still not a problem," Ginny decided. "We can just dress up as princesses and I can make Harry be my knight in shining armor."

"And," Dumbledore continued, "we will be having games, both muggle and wizarding, set up around the Great Hall, our annual feast, and of course a potion making seminar which Professor Snape has kindly agreed to hold. And there will be several guests joining us, so I suggest you all give them a warm Hogwarts welcome."

"I wonder who will be coming," Ron murmured, taking a bite out of a blueberry muffin. "And Snape teaching potion brewing? Remind me to stay away."

"One last thing," Dumbledore called out, his grin widening. "You won't be choosing your costumes." Ginny, who'd already been trying to charm a pepper shaker to become a knight's helmet, stopped mid wand wave.

"A note by owl will be arriving any minute. In it, is the name of a fellow student in your year. You are to choose their costume and inform them of it by seven tonight so they can prepare. When choosing the costume, you must make it appropriate for school. Gentlemen, if you happen to get a lady's name, I trust that you'll give her a respectable costume, am I correct? Costumes you are not allowed to choose though are muggles, witches or wizards, or any of the staff. And you are not allowed to change the costume once you have told your recipient. Have fun." With a large twinkle in his eye, large enough to make the silver stars on his robes look dull, Dumbledore sat down and took a large sip of his drink.

Hermione looked much happier as she took another bite of her English muffin. "See," she explained, gesturing at the horde of owls now flying in through the windows, "if someone else has our name, then it means that this will be fun…not some thing for the girls to go flaunt their dresses. A costume party should actually be fun!"

"Only if I get a good costume," Ginny grumbled. "Whoever gets me better make me a princess and Harry a knight. Or they'll be death to pay."

"Duck!" cried Ron, diving beneath the table as a swoop of owls came down at the Gryffindor table, dropping a small slip of parchment before each person. Harry, who hadn't ducked, quickly opened his up and smirked. While everyone else was pulling themselves up from the floor, he grabbed Hermione's slip of paper and made a trade.

"Who'd you get, Harry?" Ron asked, his paper open and clutched to him so no one else could see.

"Not telling until I think of a costume," Harry retorted. Turning to look at Hermione, he blanched. "Why haven't you opened yours yet?" Hermione just smiled and continued to eat breakfast.

"Ever heard of suspense, Harry? I'll open it when I'm done eating breakfast."

"Then you'd better hurry," Ron said, glancing at the large clock on the wall. "Classes start in a few minutes. And we have to get all the way to Binns' room."

"You're right!" Hermione exclaimed, gobbling down her last bite. "Normally we have a free period this hour for Parenting Class." Swinging her leg over the bench, Hermione stood up and shouldered her bag, the small scrap of paper in her hand. "And let's see who I got…"

"Who?" Ron asked, copying Hermione's movements, although he didn't teeter like she had done when grabbing her bag.

"Draco," she laughed. "And I already have the perfect costume in mind!"

"Tell us?" Ginny begged.

"Nope. He gets to hear it first. I'll tell him after History of Magic. We have Herbology next hour together…that'll work. Who did you guys get?"

"Valerie Princett," Ginny said, tucking her paper into her bag. "She's in Ravenclaw."

"Terry," Harry grinned evilly. "I'm not sure what I'm going to make him dress up as yet though…"

"Neville," Ron smirked. "And I have his costume chosen already too. And I'm not telling either."

"I'll catch you all later," Ginny said, reaching up and planting a kiss on Harry's cheek. "Time for me to head over for D.A.D.A. I hope Professor Skura is in a good mood…I didn't finish my essay."

"Ginny!" Hermione scolded. "You should always finish your homework! What were you doing?"

"Making out with Harry," she grinned. "Bye."

Hermione rounded on Harry as they walked down the hall to their class. "You really shouldn't do that you know! At least ask if she's done with her homework before you two start snogging!"

Harry simply shrugged and continued to think of a costume for Terry.

History of Magic was uneventful and the same as always. Ron fell asleep, Harry came pretty close, and Hermione took notes. It was after class that all hell broke loose.

"Hey! Hermione! I got your name!" Terry shouted, running down the hall towards them, his brown eyes dancing. "And I finally figured out what you're going to be!"

Hermione stopped walking and turned to face the very excited Ravenclaw. "What's my costume?" she asked, a smile on her face. "And it better not be anything too bad…"

"Oh no. You're going to love it!"

"Wait! Me first!" Harry cried. "Terry, I got your name. You're going to be a mummy!"

"A mummy? Isn't that a little original?"

"It is. I just really want to see you all wrapped up in toilet paper. Dudley went as a mummy one year and he had a….very interesting time, so to speak. I just want to see how you do."

"You're turning way to Slytherin," Terry glared.

"Hanging out with them does that to you."

"At least I can feel better after giving Hermione her costume…Mione, you're going to be a lava lamp."

"A…lava…lamp?"

"Uh huh."

"Like a volcano?" Ron asked, stifling a yawn from his nap. "Because volcanoes have lava. But what's a lamp?"

"You can't be serious!" Hermione cried, ignoring Ron and stabbing her finger into Terry's chest. "Change my costume right now!"

"No can do," he smirked. "The only thing is…I don't know how you'll make a costume to look like that…so best of luck and can't wait to see you."

"TERRY!" Hermione screamed as the Ravenclaw took off running, not wanting to face Hermione's wrath. So, instead, Harry and Ron got to. "HARRY! Go change his costume right now! Make him be something awful!"

"I can't change it," Harry said calmly, making sure to keep a few feet from his friend. "That's what Dumbledore said."

"I don't care what Dumbledore said! I don't want to be a lava lamp!"

"What is a lava lamp?" Ron demanded, not quite understanding what the fuss was all about.

"They're really tall and skinny," Harry explained, walking next to the redhead and a few paces behind Hermione. "You plug them into the wall and they get hot…when that happens, this gooze stuff in them starts floating up and down…people say it looks like lava, hence the name."

"They are not skinny," Hermione retorted. "Saying that IF I were to get dressed up as a lava lamp and IF I went to the party and IF I decided not to kill Terry and…I just lost my point."

"I'm sure it'll be all right," Ron comforted. "Besides…you can go give Draco his costume now. He's headed this way."

And indeed, the Slytherin was trekking across the courtyard on a diagonal to meet up with the Gryffindors as they all headed for Herbology.

"Hey!" he greeted, a smile on his face. "Who'd you guys get?"

"I got you," Hermione smirked, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "And I'm certain that you're going to love your costume."

"What is it?" Draco asked, falling into step next to Hermione, with Harry on Draco's other side and Ron on Hermione's.

"Well…I had to think about it for quite a while," the girl admitted, shifting her book bag. "But I finally decided what suited you perfectly. I mean, look at you. Pale skin…light hair. Likes black clothing. What am I describing?"

"A vampire?"

"Yup."

Draco sighed in relief. He was afraid she'd come up with something utterly horrible…but a vampire would be easy to do.

"But then I decided that I didn't want you to be a vampire. It wouldn't allow any imagination at all," Hermione continued, the group now almost at the greenhouses.

"Uh huh…" Draco said slowly, a worried look playing over his face. After all…when Hermione had that look in her eye it normally meant she was working on S.P.E.W. But since that wasn't the topic at all, it was even scarier than normal.

"I decided that you need to add a bit more color to your life," she grinned. "I mean look at your clothes now…black."

"You're wearing black too," he pointed out, gesturing at her robes.

"I am," she smiled. "But I also have a red headband in my hair. Red equals a color."

"And stupid Gryffindor pride," he grumbled.

"Can I finish?" she asked tightly.

"You might want to let her," Harry cautioned. "She just found she's a lava lamp for Halloween."

"What's a lava lamp?" Hermione's eye twitched. "Actually, never mind…"

"As I was saying. You need to brighten up a bit. Be more cheerful. Drop the Slytherin attitude."

"I was sorted into Slytherin for that reason you know…"

Ignoring him, Hermione finished her speech. "And that's why for Halloween you're going to be a jester. Oh! Good morning, Professor Sprout," she greeted, sweeping into the greenhouse.

"Hey? You okay?" Harry asked, waving a hand in front of Draco's suddenly slack face.

"I think Hermione feels better," Ron commented. "Come on…we're going to be late if we just stand out here."

"Draco?" Harry tried again, this time poking the Slytherin.

"A…jester?" Draco repeated faintly, shaking his head.

"It won't be so bad," Harry comforted. "You can ask Leviculus for ideas."

Draco merely groaned and followed the two Gryffindors inside. But instead of seeing the rows of students at a table, all they saw was mass chaos.

"YOU'RE THE BEST!" Pansy squealed, hugging Lavender. "My costume is so cute!"

"It was nothing," the Gryffindor girl grinned. "After all, seeing as Blaise made me a fairy, I'm quite happy. What color do you think I should make my dress?"

"Ooooh….what about a purple?"

"You don't think it makes me look stupid for wearing my name color?"

"Of course not! The purple will set off your eyes so nicely!"

Across the room from the two girls…

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! LEMME GO! LEMME GO!" Seamus yelled, struggling to reach Dean, who was cackling from just out of reach. "I HATE YOU!"

"Should we let him go?" Crabbe asked, his face strained as he fought to keep the enraged Irish boy from attacking.

"Dunno," Goyle grunted. "Why are we holding him in the first place?"

"…"

"Because I asked you to," Dean cackled. "All you have to do is pretend to be Malfoy" -here he gestured to a mop head that he'd colored yellow- "and you'll do anything."

"And what about the real Malfoy?" Draco hissed, silver eyes narrowed into slits as he moved away from Ron and Harry and towards the small group.

"You mean there are two Maloy's?" Crabbe asked, looking between both boys.

"No, you idiot," Draco snapped. "I'm Draco. That," he indicated with a jab of his finger, "is Thomas. Let Finnigan go."

Dean screamed as Seamus tore off after him, knocking over several potted Mandrakes that were sitting in on the floor. Fortunately, they were still babies and no one could hear them over the rest of the din.

"That wasn't very nice," Hermione chided, coming to stand next to Draco.

"It isn't nice tricking those two. Even though they can't really think for themselves, they aren't bad…just a little slow. And I…kinda feel bad. I should be watching out for them."

Much to his surprise, Hermione reached up and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. "I think you're doing a wonderful job," she whispered, a light blush on her cheeks. "Your friends mean a lot to you…and one trick like this won't break a bond that deep."

"You think so?" Draco asked, for the moment having forgotten about the whole jester thing.

"I know so," she smiled. "Come on…we may as well start on the assignment."

"What exactly is going on?" he asked, joining Hermione at the table with Blaise, and Harry both of whom were trying to listen to Sprout as she shouted over the noise for silence.

"People have been assigning other's costumes. And some of them I guess weren't that smart…"

"Dean made Seamus go as a ballerina," Harry chuckled. "Complete with tutu."

"I got your name," Draco smirked, turning to Harry. "But don't worry," he said, noticing Harry's face growing pale. "I was going to do something horrible but after being tortured myself, you're going to get off easy. Just be a Chocolate Frog."

"Really?" Harry asked, heaving a sigh of relief. "No hidden catches? I have to be edible?"

"Edible does sound good…do that too."

"How?"

Draco shrugged and examined his nails, frowning as he found some dirt beneath them. "Not a clue. But you can figure it out, can't you?"

Harry's retort was cut off as Ron and Neville joined the table. "Who'd you get?" Blaise asked, turning to the both of them.

"Each other," Ron said sullenly. "And Neville made me be a Jack-in-the-box."

"That isn't so bad," Hermione said, a puzzled frown on her face at the boy's attitude.

"How do I sit down?" he wailed. "I'm trapped in a box!"

"And he's making me be a bunny," Neville moaned. "A pink bunny."

Draco snorted. "At least I won't be the only one feeling stupid…Hey! Blaise! What are you?"

"Pansy had me…doesn't that give you a clue?" he sighed, shaking his head.

"Not really," Hermione admitted.

"A ninja," he moaned. "She's obsessed with them. And she told me I have to be able to do flips and stuff."

"Yay!" Draco said with mock enthusiasm. "We can practice together."

And it was at that moment Professor Sprout had decided she'd had enough of the yelling. "SILENCIO!" she bellowed, each and every one of the student's mouths sealing shut.

Unfortunately, the Mandrakes didn't.

And seconds later, the whole class was sound asleep on the floor.


"So are you feeling better?" Ginny asked, placing a hand on Harry's forehead. "You guys were in the Hospital Wing all day!"

"Great way to start normal classes again, huh?"

"At least we got to miss Care of Magical Creatures," Ron grinned. "No savage beasts trying to tear us up, no dragons to eat us, no-"

"I heard that today Hagrid was actually showing Crups," Ginny giggled. "Harmless little dogs."

"Of course! Of course! I knew we should have gone!" Ron cried.

In truth, none of the sixth year Gryffindors and Slytherins were able to attend any classes for the rest of the day. By the time Sprout's class for fourth hour came by and found them, the students had been knocked into a deep sleep by the Mandrakes and had slept the day away in the Hospital Wing.

"So who are you going as?" Hermione asked Ginny. "Your princess?"

"Yeah, sure. And Harry can be my prince charming after I kiss him," she smiled, reaching up and presenting her 'frog' with one. "Actually though, I'm going as Raggedy Ann. Luna had me and said that it would be fun since I had red hair."

"That isn't so bad. What did you give that Ravenclaw girl?"

"She's going as an elephant," Ginny laughed. "Hey! I have an idea! Why don't we all go to Hogsmeade together to get our costumes?"

"That'd be fun," Hermione grinned. "Should we grab the others?"

"Of course," Ginny smirked. "Of course."

Her eye caught Harry's and he winked.

Oh yes. Things were going perfectly. Absolutely perfect.

Author's Notes:

How do we know Icy is typing this? Well, the fact she's writing it on Sunday night again. I should be in bed right now, but I really want to get this up.

You guys are amazing! I swear, I'm still feeling all hyped up looking at the reviews. :hugs everyone: And because you were all so awesome, I made myself get this up tonight. Although I do think updates will from now on be every two weeks.

Some random things before I go to bed.

On my profile page I have a lot of fanart pics for PC. Take a look?

Also, a link to my auction on Gaia. Would you like to stop by and bump/bid?

Okay, time to go. Hope to hear from you all again! I saw a lot of old faces and even some new ones! So, as always, review and make me super happy and hyper!