All Hallow's Eve

Luna had spent the last few weeks in a daze, unable to fathom that she had time travelled. She had refused to believe previously, but now seeing Hagrid's hut gone, she knew for certain. She had walked around the whole perimetre of the Forbidden Forest bordering the grounds and found no trace of a cabin, not even a shack. She wanted to double back again, but was worried she wouldn't make it back in time before Riddle returned from dinner.

She knew that she didn't belong here. That was why she didn't recognize any of the students, why Professor Dumbledore looked so young, and why Hagrid was framed for the murder.

Yes, she knew he was framed. He had to be. If Hagrid truly killed an innocent student while he was also a fellow classmate, the Headmaster would never keep him around children. The only way would be for Hagrid to be a scapegoat, and Dumbledore saw right through him. That now left the question as to who was the true schemer, and if they were still around, would they kill again? She shuddered at the thought, but relaxed. Myrtle was the only death heard of in the history of Hogwarts, which meant no further innocents would die. Even with this fact under her belt, she still wanted to meet with Hagrid, but she couldn't risk being caught by Riddle. Furthermore, she didn't even know if Hagrid would be able to see her.

Since bumping into the Hufflepuff girl, Luna had been very careful in watching where she was walking. She tried not to think, but it was impossible. How one could think and not walk or walk and not think, she would never know. The best she could do was act as if she wasn't thinking while she walked behind Riddle. That way, she could at least lower the chances of incurring his wrath.

Riddle noticed since Lovegood's outbreak about defending the Gryffindor oaf's innocence, she hadn't really spoken. Although, he didn't push the matter, he kept an awful close watch on her. He certainly didn't miss the times she would try to close off her mind while walking. He had almost choked the first time he saw her with her face scrunched up in concentration. Since then, he always looked forward to walking to the next class, anticipating with a smirk. Beyond the entertainment, he also felt a sense of pride that she actually listened to him and obeyed. Well, at least tried to obey. The silly girl would be the end of him.

He had enjoyed the silence in the beginning, a break from her endless questions, but then he felt the silence was rather hollow. There was something missing. It bothered him that she wasn't voicing her thoughts to him anymore. He couldn't tell what she was thinking. There was no mind reading spell he knew of and a veritaserum was too much work to only find out what she had been holding back. Besides, he could easily force her to tell him, but he realized he was struggling. He dared say he was beginning to feel awkward around her. Riddle pushed that thought away. She was a simpleton, and simpleton thought simple things. Doubtless, she was probably just wondering what was for dinner tonight or if she should make a Butterbeer caps bracelet. He sneered.

In any case, he had something very crucial to plan. Since the set back of his previous execution, he had been busy culminating the next opportunity to finish off his heir's work. He had already done some research in the Restricted Section of the library and knew exactly how to accomplish the unfulfilled deed. He was able to extract confidential blueprints of the maze being prepared for the Hallowe'en feast from a couple of house-elves. At the stroke of midnight, his spell enchanting the maze will seek out all the mudbloods within. The curse will take effect in a couple of days and the mudbloods will die from a very mysterious illness, with no trace of any malevolence. This way, they would have no excuse to shut down Hogwarts and he would be able to kill so many more muggle-borns in one stroke.

He grinned to himself. All Hallow's Eve was tonight. He could barely suppress his delight.

Luna was pacing in her room. All the students were beginning the celebrations with a wonderful feast and she was stuck in her room. Soon, the real festivities were to begin and she didn't want to miss it. Sure, she might not be with her friends and she still had the problem of going back home to her time, but she had to enjoy the now while she could. She wondered if parties were different 50 years ago.

She tried to sit still on the bed, but she couldn't. The idea of livelihood and laughter occurring just above her was too irresistible. She grabbed her wand, tucked it behind her ear, wrenched the door open and crashed into him.

"Just where do you think you're going?"

"Oh, hello," Luna replied lamely.

"Well?" Riddle quashed the flutter in his heart when he heard her voice again after the endless days of silence.

"I thought I might join in celebrating tonight." She realized for the first time she answered his intimidating interrogation techniques in a calm, steady voice. Since watching him interact with his friends, it dawned on her that there were those who didn't cower beneath him whenever he spoke, however few. She could be one of them.

"Did I say you could?" He narrowed his eyes at her.

"You are about to." She smiled up at him.

He smirked. "No."

"Please!" she protested. "I've been locked up in this room night after night. I swear there is a nargle nest forming in that bed over in the corner." She turned and pointed.

"Yes," he mulled. "It's certainly making you lose your mind."

"How can you lose your mind when it's kept safely beneath layers of skin and bone? Oh, wait! Yes, I have heard of this symptom. Those aquavirius maggots tend to-"

"Stop," he cut her off. He had been staring at her with incredulous eyes and if he had let her continue, he would surely have gone brain dead. He sighed. "As a prefect, I have to be there. If you swear to stay close and not leave my sight,"

"Yes! Oh thank you, Riddle!" Her eyes shone with excitement.

He rolled his eyes. "Don't thank me yet. It's not all it's cracked up to be."

She followed him out of the Slytherin common room and up towards the ground floor. Before they had even left the dungeons, she could already smell the evening. Wafts of cinnamon, pumpkin, and candied apples drifted towards them. Luna inhaled deeply and grinned at the memories as a child when her father and mother would carve dirigible plums with her while eating fresh baked pumpkin pies. Her mother made the best pumpkin pies, the perfect balance between sugar and spice.

As they ascended the stairs, a brilliant orange glow illuminated them. She reminisced to her last Hallowe'en and remembered the usual candles floating in the Great Hall were transformed into jack-o'-lanterns for that one evening. She couldn't help but skip her way up the rest of the steps. They emerged into the Entrance Hall and Luna gasped. She couldn't believe her eyes. They had transformed the entire Entrance Hall into a haunted maze. It looked very similar to the Hogwarts Castle, but the windows and doors were enchanted to have ghouls and goblins pop out at passing students. Blood oozed from the walls as spiders crawled all over it. Shadows danced across the cavernous room, cast by invisible lamps. Occasionally one of the Hogwarts ghosts would swoop down on the students, trying to scare them. She giggled as she watched the Bloody Baron descend upon an unknowing second year Gryffindor student, making the little girl scream at the sudden chill.

She felt a tap on her shoulder and saw Riddle nod his head towards the marble staircase. Luna turned and lost her breath. Winding its way up towards the ceiling were lanterns upon lanterns of pumpkins spiralling all the way up to the seventh floor. The light was blinding but it was soft enough to still create eerie dark corners along every corridor. On each floor there were booths of activities and sweets to try. All the students were laughing and screaming in joy. Whether at the beauty of tonight or the deliciousness of the apple pies, she could only imagine. Everything she saw before her was what every child pictured Hallowe'en should be: pure magic. This was more beautiful than anything she'd ever seen before. Luna was so enraptured by the allure of it all, she didn't even feel the brush against her.

"Boy!" Riddle shouted.

Luna was alerted to a student that was no boy at all. He was a Seventh Year Ravenclaw Prefect and was the same height as Riddle. He stopped in his tracks nonetheless and swivelled around cautiously. His friends looked on with creeping panic.

"Watch who you're walking next to!" Riddle barked.

Luna placed a gentle hand on his arm.

The boy looked around nervously, not entirely sure what Riddle was referring to, but nodded uncertainly and walked away as fast as he could without running, his friends scrambling after him.

Riddle looked over his shoulders at Luna, eyes brushed over her hand on his arm. He didn't shrug it off. "How many times do I need to remind you to be aware of yourself? I can't yell at every student you bloody walk into."

"You didn't need to yell at him." Luna removed her hand, leaving his arm cold. "It didn't hurt. I don't mind."

"I do," he bit, and walked off towards Black who he saw was talking to another pair of Slytherin Prefects. She didn't understand that he had to cover her tracks for her. He was beginning to worry that if more and more students, worse maybe professors, could see her, he would not be able to hide her under his wing anymore. He was not about to let anyone take her away from him.

In the last moments, Riddle had watched how she had unravelled before the bewitchment. A simple display such as this had completely spellbound her. Seeing the pure mirth in her eyes and her dizzying smile, he realized he had never wanted to possess something as much as he wanted to possess her now. He pushed back the emotions that were trying to force its way through. If he wasn't careful, he might lose her faster than he could say "mine".

The idea of losing her made him want to clutch her even tighter. He still believed there was something different about her. Even if other people were beginning to see her, he was adamant that she was more than a girl with an invisibility spell gone wrong. He vowed to find out for sure sooner rather than later. However, tonight he only had one thought. He snickered to himself.

"What's funny?" one of the fifth year Slytherin prefects asked.

He smirked at the girl. "Oh, you'll find out soon enough."