Disclaimer: I in no way shape or form own any of the original Harry Potter
characters. I do however own any characters you are unfamiliar with along
with the plot and any randomly made up words.
OK, here's chapter 16! It's a little weird in the fact that most of it seems to occur before Halloween but that's alright, it still works. It looks like it's going to be a longer chapter too because of that, but oh well, as long as it's not a long boring chapter it's OK. Once again big thanks go to my friend Jen who is still helping me out because my computer is a piece of crap. Jen, you're awesome, I totally owe you for this! Anywho, please read and review because reviews make me happy!
Chapter 16: Tricks & Treats
As the month of October drew to a close, Halloween decorations began appearing throughout the castle.
"You know what's kind of ironic for me about Halloween this year?" Lily said as she and the other girls watched Hagrid set up giant jack-o-lanterns in the entrance hall.
"What?" asked Erin.
"I went dressed as a witch last Halloween when I went trick or treating," Lily said and the girls laughed.
"Wow," Megan commented, "Talk about an ironic twist of fate!"
"Have you guys ever gone trick or treating?" Kristin asked as she turned to Megan, Karen, Julie and Brittany.
"I went once," Julie said, "But it was really odd to see people dressed up like things they think are imaginary but are actually real."
"Yeah," agreed Brittany, "But the candy was worth it."
"How could it not be?" Karen said, "It was free."
"Good point," said Brittany.
"Have you two gone?" Kristin asked Karen and Megan.
Both girls nodded.
"I went out a few times," said Karen, "It was actually pretty fun."
"I kind of had to go because I live in a muggle neighborhood," Megan said, "It would have looked really suspicious if I didn't."
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Kristin said.
"Halloween is definitely one of my favourite holidays," Carol said as the girls walked outside into the autumn sun, "I love dressing up in funny costumes."
"Hey!" Megan exclaimed, "I just got an idea! Why don't we see if Dumbledore will let us have a big costume party?"
"Yeah!" agreed Lily, "And with magic the costumes would be really amazing!"
"But will Dumbledore let us?" Julie said.
"Probably," Megan said, "You know how much he loves muggle things. I'll get Alex to ask him tonight."
"And Alex won't mind?" Karen asked.
"Nah," Megan said, "I'm his little sister which means he has to be nice to me. If he isn't, I'll write mum and he'll be in big trouble."
The girls laughed as they continued their walk around the grounds.
*************
The next day at dinner, once everyone had taken their seats, Dumbledore stood up and the chatter died away. He cleared his throat and then spoke.
"As you know," he said, "Halloween is almost upon us. I have been approached with an idea to have a costume party instead of just our usual feast. I must say I feel this is an excellent suggestion and after having discussed it with the other teachers, have decided we shall do just that. Not only will we be having a feast this year but rather a costume feast and party which will include music, dancing and games."
There were loud cheers from the majority of the students. Only the Slytherins seemed unhappy.
"Therefore I am assuming that immediately following dinner you will begin working on your costumes," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling, "I would like to thank the first year Gryffindor girls for the excellent suggestion."
There were more cheers and applause from everyone but the Slytherins as everyone turned to look at the girls.
"As there is no more news and I do not doubt that you are all incredibly hungry, tuck in!" Dumbledore said.
Immediately, food appeared on the plates and the students eagerly dug in.
"Way to go girls!" Shawn called from a few seats down.
"Yeah!" agreed Aaron, "That was a great idea you had!"
"It was all Megan's idea," said Brittany.
"It was not," Megan said, "We all came up with it."
"It was completely your idea and you know it," Kristin said.
Megan just rolled her eyes and began eating. Lily looked down the table and saw that James was having a rather animated conversation with Sirius.
"We need to come up with something really spectacular!" he said, "Something no one will ever forget!"
"Just wear a dress then!" Lily called down, "Or better yet, dress up like a toilet!"
James face went rather red and everyone gaped at Lily before bursting out laughing.
"Oh burn!" Megan yelled at James.
"That was huge!" Sirius said, "Very nice Lily, I'm impressed."
Lily grinned, "Thanks," she said.
*************
After dinner, Lily and Megan hung back so they could go check on their potion without anyone knowing. However, as soon as they left the hall, they were confronted by all of the Slytherin first years.
"Well, well, well, what have we hear?" Malfoy smirked as he swaggered forward, "Two Mudbloods who want to celebrate Halloween like muggles, well isn't that something new."
"I guess we'll need to make very scary costumes then," Snape smirked, "Just for them."
"So you're going as yourselves?" Megan asked.
The Slytherins looked taken aback but quickly regained their composure and glared at her menacingly.
"Good one!" Lily said as she and Megan high-fived.
"You know," Bellatrix said in a cold voice, "You shouldn't insult your betters. If you show no respect you shall receive none in return."
"Yeah 'cause you know how much I want your respect," Megan said as she rolled her eyes.
Bellatrix bristled like and angry cat, "I would watch your step if I were you," she hissed.
Megan raised her eyebrows, "Is that a threat?" she asked.
Bellatrix smiled in a way that sent chills up Lily's spine, "Maybe," she replied rather coyly, as if she was a cat toying with a mouse before devouring it.
Megan rolled her eyes again, "Right." she said, "I'll do that. Come on Lily, we should get going."
The two girls turned to leave but their way was blocked by two of the largest 11 year olds Lily had ever seen.
Megan's eyes narrowed, "Crabbe, Goyle," she said through clenched teeth, "Would you be so kind as to move?"
The boys grunted in reply and took a step forward but Megan wasn't about to back down.
"I'm asking you nicely," she said, "Please move."
"You wouldn't want to ruin our fun now would you?" Jennifer asked with a small pout, "We just want to play with you two."
Megan turned to her, "Oh, I wouldn't dream of it," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Lily watched Megan and noticed she was slowly pulling out her wand, careful to keep it hidden from in her sleeve.
"Well then how could you even think of leaving?" Jennifer asked.
In a flash, Megan had her wand out and pointed it straight up in the air.
"Cielieux!" she yelled and with a loud bang, a large cloud of thick fog floated out of her wand, encircling the entire group.
Within seconds, the frantic yells and screams of the Slytherins were heard. Lily looked around, trying to see where Megan had gone. She felt someone grab her arm and, assuming it was Megan, allowed them to drag her out of the fog with little resistance. However, once out of the fog, she saw it was Malfoy, not Megan, who had pulled her out of the fog. He was wearing a particularly chilling expression. Lily couldn't understand how someone so young could look so evil.
"Let me go!" she yelled as she tried to pull free, but Malfoy held fast.
"I'm afraid I can't do that," he replied as he pulled out his wand, "Seeing as I can't inflict my revenge on Megan, you'll just have to do."
"What are you going to do?" Lily asked, a note of panic in her voice.
Malfoy smiled a sinister smile but before he could reply, he was blasted backwards. Lily turned to see Megan with her wand out looking absolutely livid. She walked over to Lily rather briskly.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"Yeah, fine," Lily aid, but her voice shook slightly, "What did you do to him?"
"Oh, he's just stunned," Megan said dismissively, "Come on, we should get out of here." She pointed her wand, mutterer something then grabbed Lily and bolted down the hallway.
"Aren't you worried you'll get in trouble?" Lily asked when they stopped running.
Megan shrugged, "What are they going to do?" she said, "Say two of us attacked more then 10 of them? I doubt anyone would believe them."
"But aren't you worried about what they'll do for revenge?" asked Lily.
"Not really," Megan replied, "It's just the Slytherins, they can't do anything."
"If you say so," Lily said, but she still felt uneasy.
*************
It was the day before Halloween and the girls were busy scheming of pranks to pull on the boys for Devil's night in Lily, Megan, Karen and Carol's room.
"We need something really good," said Karen, "Something they'll never forget."
"I feel kind of bad about doing it to all of them though," Julie said, "I mean, James and Sirius are the only ones who ever do anything bad."
"Yes, but all the boys hang out with them and are therefore guilty by association," Megan said.
"What are we going to do though?" Lily asked, "Any ideas?"
Megan grinned as she pulled out a piece of paper, "Well, here's a few," she said.
Brittany took the paper. "Toilet paper, shaving cream, water, markers, paint, hair dye, make-up, pudding, mud, worms, glue, feathers, bubblegum toothpaste, fake vomit and dog doo," she read aloud. She looked up, "OK, wow," she said.
"And I wrote specifics for each boy so they're all unique," Megan said, "For example, our dear friend Sirius Black will receive blue hair, a fabulous make-up job, shaving cream and pudding all over him topped with feathers and shredded toilet paper. Our dear friend James Potter will receive the five-star treatment as well. This includes, pink hair, topped with feathers to give it more texture, half of a mud pack, complete with worms, a lovely make-up job and scribbles in permanent marker all over him. Not to mention the fact that he will be utterly surrounded by fake vomit and dog doo and just for fun, will splash some water on hi lower body for added effect."
"I think I'm going to like this," Lily said with a grin.
*************
The next few hours were spent organizing supplies and learning simple spells to make the work faster. Each girl was assigned a specific target. Lily of course had James and Megan had Sirius, while Karen had Remus, Carol had Peter, Julie had Steve, Brittany had Dave, Kristin had Shawn and Erin had Aaron. (A/N: Isn't the last pairing ironical???)
"OK, here's what we do," Megan said, "We wait for them all to go to sleep then sneak into their dorms. We'll probably have to wait until at least midnight but I managed to plant a special little trinket I got at Diagon Alley in their room to keep us informed about what's going on."
"How did you get into their room?" asked Carol.
Megan grinned, "Who said I went in their room?" she said, "I used a hover charm to make it follow them upstairs earlier."
"Ah," said Carol, "I see."
"Anyway, it sort of works like those walkie-talkies muggles use," Megan explained, "I have the receiver here so we can listen to what's going on." She pulled out a small silver ball that was vibrating slightly. She tapped it and suddenly the voices of the boys were heard.
"I still say we should pull a prank on the girls tonight," came Sirius' voice.
"If we did Megan would murder me," came James' voice, "And it'd be all your fault, you and your stupid idea for a bet."
"Don't blame me, I thought you'd win," Sirius replied.
"You wanted Megan to win, don't deny it," James snapped, "Especially 'cause she's your girlfriend."
"Yeah right!" said Sirius with a laugh, "As if! We're friends, always have been, always will be. Just like you and me. You, me and her are like the three musketeers. Besides, you like Lily!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
Megan rolled her eyes, "Next thing you know they'll be singing "K I S S I N G" at each other," she said, "They always say the other has a crush on someone or other just to bug each other. Boys are so immature."
"You can say that again," agreed Karen.
Lily thought though, maybe James was just teasing her because he liked her but she still hated him. He really was a jerk and there was no way in a million years she'd ever like him at all, not even as friends.
A few hours left and soon the only sound that came from the silver ball was the sound of light snoring and deep breathing. The girls grabbed their things and were about to leave the room when Megan stopped them.
"Wait!" she said, "I should use a Disillusionment Charm so they can't see us!" She pulled out her wand and pointed at Lily and muttered something.
The next thing she knew, Lily felt as though she was melting and when she looked down at her hands, the had taken on the exact colour of her surroundings.
"OK, that's weird," Carol said, "What did you do?"
"I made it so she's like a chameleon," Megan explained, "This way the boys can't see us."
"I feel really weird," said Lily.
"I'm not surprised," said Megan.
She did the same thing to all the other girls before doing it to herself. They all left and headed for the boys' dormitories intent on completing their mission.
*************
The next morning, the girls awoke to panicked screams and yells. Grinning, they jumped out of bed and ran down to the Common Room to discover the boys had awakened to discover their new looks and were very confused.
"Nice costumes boys," Megan commented, "But the party's not until tonight."
"You did all this didn't you?" James said.
"Of course not," Megan said, "My target was Sirius. Your new look was done by Lily, you know, your secret crush."
James went bright red, "What are you talking about?" he said.
"Oh, didn't I show you my new toy?" Megan said as she pulled out the little silver ball, "It's kind of like those walkie-talkies muggles use to talk to each other. You boys sure say interesting things when you don't think us girls are listening."
All the boys looked mortified.
"And I haven't even told you the best part!" Megan said, "It records everything it hears for later playback! Isn't that cool?"
"You are so dead!!!" yelled James as he lunged at a laughing Megan who darted out of his way.
Soon all the boys were chasing the girls around the common room while the older Gryffindors laughed hysterically.
"Head for the dorms!" Megan yelled above the racket and the girls followed her lead and shot up the stairs to their dorms. However, when the boys went to follow, the stairs turned into a slide and they couldn't get upstairs but could only yell up at the girls from the bottom while the girls taunted them.
*************
The most amazing thing about the whole incident was that the girls didn't get in trouble for what they'd done to the boys because they easily fixed everything with a quick wave of a wand before any of the teachers saw.
The rest of the day there was quite a lot of tension between the boys and girls until lunchtime when all was forgiven when the boys realized it wasn't really that bad and was actually funny. Plus, they also needed to get homework answers from them because none of them did well in Potions.
Later that night, the girls readied themselves for the costume party. They had put together their own costumes and then Megan helped them to make them a bit more realistic with the help of some magic.
"You sure know some useful spells," commented Julie as Megan added lace to the hem of her skirt, "How do you know all these spells?"
Megan handed Julie her now lace-trimmed skirt and shrugged, "My mom likes to sew so she uses a lot of these spells," she explained, "That and I just read a lot."
"What's your costume Megan?" Lily said as she adjusted her cat ears.
"Yeah Megan," said Carol, "You've kept us in suspense long enough."
Megan grinned, "Alright, but its real isn't anything fancy," she said as she went over to her trunk. She rummaged around for a minute then pulled out a pile of clothes, then disappeared behind her bed curtains to change. She emerged a few minutes later dressed in a flowing dark blue dress and a black belt with a silver buckle. She also wore a dark purple cape that was pinned under her chin by a silver and blue brooch. She had grown her hair out but had kept it her natural colour and if fell across her shoulders making her look several years older. For added effect to show it was still her, she wore a sword and scabbard on her belt. (A/N: The costume is based on a character from one of my original fiction stories. She happens to be one of my favourite characters I've ever written so I decided to include in somehow.) All the girls stared at her in surprise.
"OK, who are you and what have you done with Megan?" asked Karen.
"No one's going to know it's you!" Lily exclaimed.
"When they see the sword they will," Megan said with a grin.
"Where did you get the idea for such a cool costume?" asked Karen.
Megan shrugged, "It just sort of came to me," she replied, "Now, are we going to go or just sit around talking all night?"
The girls headed down to the common room in their finery. Lily twirled her tail around a bit as they descended the stairs. She liked her black cat costume a lot, even if it was pretty ordinary. Actually, all of the girl's costumes were pretty tame, nothing was overly weird which was fine; it was the boys' job to be over the top. Karen was a gypsy, Carol was a fairy, Julie was a doll, Brittany was an angel, Kristin was a ladybug and Erin was a pumpkin.
When the girls reached the common room, the eight boys, who were dressed up as well, greeted them. Sirius was knight, Remus was a werewolf (A/N: Yet another ironical thing.), which Lily found rather amusing, Peter a ghost, Lily had the feeling he'd left his costume to the last minute, Steve was a mad scientist, Dave was a dragon, Shawn was Cesaer, Aaron was a vampire and James was.
"I can't believe you actually took my advice," Lily said as she looked James' costume over, he was dressed like a toilet. "But I must say it's kind of a 'crappy' costume, if you know what I mean."
Everyone groaned at the horrible pun, except Steve, who, for some strange reason, thought it was hilarious and was laughing rather hard.
"Promise me you'll never say something like that ever again," said Carol.
Lily grinned, "OK," she said, "I'll try not too."
"You haven't seen the best part yet though!" James said, "Look! It even flushes!" He pressed the handle on his costume and the sound of water was heard.
"Wow," commented Megan, "Who'd you get to help you with that?"
"Who said I had help?" James asked but when Megan rolled her eyes he sighed, "Alright, I got help from Alex and Frank, so sue me."
"Are we going to the party or what?" asked Karen.
"Yeah! Let's go!" everyone said and they left.
When the group entered the great hall they were immediately enchanted by all the amazingly magical decorations. There were already lots of students there in a variety of costumes. There was a group of about 10 people who had come dressed up like part of a deck of cards and another group of people were famous statues/monuments, which included the Statue of Liberty, the Sphinx and the Eiffel Tower. Another group had come dressed as a rock band, complete with long hair and ripped up clothes.
"I think they're supposed to be the Musical Things," Megan said to Lily, "They're a popular rock band in the wizarding world."
One girl was dressed like a peacock, another girl was a parrot and yet another girl was a flamingo. One boy was dressed up like an astronaut and a boy and girl were dressed up like prehistoric people, complete with animal skin clothes and bones in their hair.
"These costumes are amazing!" exclaimed Carol.
"You can say that again!" said Dave, "And to think I almost came as a football player!" (A/N: Remember, in Britain soccer is called football.)
"Oh my god!" exclaimed Brittany, "Look at Dumbledore!"
Everyone turned and see Dumbledore dressed as a disco dancer, complete with an afro and everything. Needless to say nearly everyone in the Great Hall was in shock.
"What's up dudes?" Dumbledore asked.
Everyone roared with laughter and applauded his costume.
"This is the best Halloween ever!" said Erin.
Music was playing and there was all kinds of food and games around. Megan and Lily wandered over to the ring toss to try their luck but before they could start, Sirius and James had come up beside them.
"Hello ladies," Sirius said, "Your knights in shining armour have arrived."
Megan snorted and Lily giggled.
"OK, your knight in shining armour and your toilet have arrived," said Sirius.
"Hey!" said James.
"You want us to win you some prizes?" Sirius asked.
"I think we're quite capable of winning our own prizes thank you very much," said Megan as she casually touched the hilt of her sword.
"Ah," Sirius said as he eyed the sword, "I see."
"Besides," said Lily, "You guys probably aren't any good anyway."
"Oh yeah?" said James, "Just watch us."
Several minutes later, the boys had won a few small prizes.
"Now it's our turn," said Megan as she and Lily picked up a few rings. Very soon, they had a large pile of prizes of their own.
"Now you must have cheated," said James, "There is no way you're that good. Girls are never good at stuff like this."
"Right." said Megan, "I'm just really good at Quiddicth and football (A/N: Soccer for all non-British people.) and have good hand-eye coordination."
"And I just happen to play sports with my friends all the time," Lily said, "But no, we must have cheated because we're girls."
"Do you want some of our prizes to make you feel better?" asked Megan as she held out a doll.
"No!" both boys said in unison.
The girls laughed.
"OK, but don't pout about being second best then," Lily said as the girls left with their new toys.
"Let's go in the Haunted House!" Megan said excitedly as she pointed at small house that had been erected in the far corner of the hall.
"OK!" Lily said.
They left their prizes outside with Alex, who was in charge of the Haunted House, and went inside.
"This is kind of creepy," Lily said as she looked around in the semi- darkness.
"It's not that bad," Megan said, "Come on, let's go this way."
The girls headed down a hallway and heard many creepy/haunted house type noises.
"This is so cliché," Megan said, "Next thing you know the boys will jump out at us to try an scare us."
They heard familiar voices.
"I bet they're scared out of their wits!" they heard James say, "All girls hate haunted houses!"
"We should scare them in here," they heard Sirius say, "That'd be awesome."
Megan and Lily grinned then ducked inside a closet but kept the door open a crack to see out.
"I wonder where they are?" James said as he stopped only a few feet away from the door.
"Yeah," said Sirius, "They weren't too far ahead of us."
"One." Megan whispered, "Two."
"Do you hear something?" James asked.
"Just creaking floorboards and rattling chains," said Sirius, "Why?"
"I thought I heard voices," said James.
"Well it is a haunted house," said Sirius.
"Three!" Megan whispered then she and Lily burst out of the closet screaming and yelling like crazy.
"AHHHHHHH!!!" yelled the boys who turned and ran back the way they'd come.
Lily and Megan collapsed in a heap of giggles on the floor.
"That was so not funny," James said as he and Sirius returned.
"Yes it was!" both girls said.
"Your faces were priceless!" Megan said.
"Yeah, you were scared out of your minds!" Lily added.
"And you say we're immature," said Sirius.
The rest of the party was spent having an absolute blast. Lily couldn't remember ever having so much fun. She was even getting along with James of all people. The food was excellent and there were plenty of jokes and Lily was constantly laughing. At one point Peeves, the Hogwarts poltergeist, dropped in and started throwing water balloons at people, which was highly annoying, but then the Bloody Baron, the resident Slytherin ghost put a stop to it and Peeves left without much fuss.
"Why do they even have a poltergeist?" Lily heard Jennifer, who was dressed like a sorceress, say to Bellatrix, who was also dressed like a sorceress, "If this was a half-way decent school they'd get rid of him."
Bellatrix nodded in agreement, "They should," she said, "He is quite a nuisance."
"But you're a bigger nuisance," Lily muttered under her breath.
"Pardon?" Remus said.
"Nothing," Lily replied, but she fumed inside. She had heard a lot of ugly rumours about the Slytherins but had tried not to assume things about them. However, after the incident outside the Great hall, she absolutely loathed the lot of them. They really were just a bunch of evil, spoiled, little brats. They had yet to give her a reason to think otherwise and she doubted they ever would.
Slowly, the party ended and the students left to go to bed. However, the Gryffindors were far to hyper to go to bed just yet and decided to have their own party in the common room. That is, until Professor McGonagall appeared in the portrait hole in her dressing gown and robe and ordered them to stop.
"But Professor," said one of Alex's friends, "It's only 1 o'clock."
"I don't care what time it is," said Professor McGonagall, "It's time for the lot of you to go to bed. You can have a party when you when your first Quidditch match."
The group slowly trudged up to bed. Lily curled up under her nice warm covers but couldn't get to sleep because of all the sugar she's consumed. She lay staring out the window at the sky.
"I am never going to get to sleep," Megan said from the next bed over, "Too much sugar."
"Same," said Lily, "But it was so worth it."
"Were you actually getting along with James earlier?" Karen asked.
Lily sat up, "I guess so, why?" she said.
"I thought you thought he was the biggest jerk ever," said Karen.
"I do," said Lily, "But he was fine tonight so I got along with him."
"I think someone has a crush," Megan said.
"Oh shut up!" said Lily, "I'm not even friends with the guy and you're saying I have a crush on him? Give me a break."
"Well, we already know he kind of has a thing for you," Carol said.
"Oh give it up," said Lily, "Please, the guy is still a jerk. I bet tomorrow he'll go back to being his old arrogant self."
"Probably," Megan said, "But you never know, people change."
"Shut up," Lily said as she threw her pillow at Megan but missed.
"Pillow fight!" Megan yelled as she launched Lily's pillow back at her.
The girls jumped up and started whacking each other with their pillows until a sixth year girl came in and told them to settle and go to bed.
As Lily drifted off to sleep, she couldn't help but think about how great Hogwarts was.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It's finally done! Thanks again to Jen who helped me out by posting this for me. Took awhile but it's a pretty action-packed chapter. I know, near the end I stopped giving a lot of detail but oh well, it still works out. I think my foreshadowing is a tad to strong in this chapter but that's OK, you probably already picked up on the same stuff in previous chapters. Yeah, I know, sometimes they (meaning Lily and friends) don't act like 11 year olds but I'm working on that. I am aware most 11 year olds are not very sarcastic so I'll try and fix that. I'm also aware my creativity is horrible as far as Halloween costumes go but the problem is that all you really see now days are video game, TV, and movie characters at Halloween. I know, the fact that Remus was dressed like a werewolf is pretty ironical (Can you believe that's a real word? At least, according to my spellchecker it is.) but I thought it was funny. Anywho, chapter 18 should be finished soon, I'm still writing it out in rough at the moment but I should finish it really soon, it'll depend on how fast I type. However, I have a huge law project due Monday so it probably won't be up until next week. Well, hope you enjoyed! Please review, thanks!!!
~*~MeGaN~*~
OK, here's chapter 16! It's a little weird in the fact that most of it seems to occur before Halloween but that's alright, it still works. It looks like it's going to be a longer chapter too because of that, but oh well, as long as it's not a long boring chapter it's OK. Once again big thanks go to my friend Jen who is still helping me out because my computer is a piece of crap. Jen, you're awesome, I totally owe you for this! Anywho, please read and review because reviews make me happy!
Chapter 16: Tricks & Treats
As the month of October drew to a close, Halloween decorations began appearing throughout the castle.
"You know what's kind of ironic for me about Halloween this year?" Lily said as she and the other girls watched Hagrid set up giant jack-o-lanterns in the entrance hall.
"What?" asked Erin.
"I went dressed as a witch last Halloween when I went trick or treating," Lily said and the girls laughed.
"Wow," Megan commented, "Talk about an ironic twist of fate!"
"Have you guys ever gone trick or treating?" Kristin asked as she turned to Megan, Karen, Julie and Brittany.
"I went once," Julie said, "But it was really odd to see people dressed up like things they think are imaginary but are actually real."
"Yeah," agreed Brittany, "But the candy was worth it."
"How could it not be?" Karen said, "It was free."
"Good point," said Brittany.
"Have you two gone?" Kristin asked Karen and Megan.
Both girls nodded.
"I went out a few times," said Karen, "It was actually pretty fun."
"I kind of had to go because I live in a muggle neighborhood," Megan said, "It would have looked really suspicious if I didn't."
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Kristin said.
"Halloween is definitely one of my favourite holidays," Carol said as the girls walked outside into the autumn sun, "I love dressing up in funny costumes."
"Hey!" Megan exclaimed, "I just got an idea! Why don't we see if Dumbledore will let us have a big costume party?"
"Yeah!" agreed Lily, "And with magic the costumes would be really amazing!"
"But will Dumbledore let us?" Julie said.
"Probably," Megan said, "You know how much he loves muggle things. I'll get Alex to ask him tonight."
"And Alex won't mind?" Karen asked.
"Nah," Megan said, "I'm his little sister which means he has to be nice to me. If he isn't, I'll write mum and he'll be in big trouble."
The girls laughed as they continued their walk around the grounds.
*************
The next day at dinner, once everyone had taken their seats, Dumbledore stood up and the chatter died away. He cleared his throat and then spoke.
"As you know," he said, "Halloween is almost upon us. I have been approached with an idea to have a costume party instead of just our usual feast. I must say I feel this is an excellent suggestion and after having discussed it with the other teachers, have decided we shall do just that. Not only will we be having a feast this year but rather a costume feast and party which will include music, dancing and games."
There were loud cheers from the majority of the students. Only the Slytherins seemed unhappy.
"Therefore I am assuming that immediately following dinner you will begin working on your costumes," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling, "I would like to thank the first year Gryffindor girls for the excellent suggestion."
There were more cheers and applause from everyone but the Slytherins as everyone turned to look at the girls.
"As there is no more news and I do not doubt that you are all incredibly hungry, tuck in!" Dumbledore said.
Immediately, food appeared on the plates and the students eagerly dug in.
"Way to go girls!" Shawn called from a few seats down.
"Yeah!" agreed Aaron, "That was a great idea you had!"
"It was all Megan's idea," said Brittany.
"It was not," Megan said, "We all came up with it."
"It was completely your idea and you know it," Kristin said.
Megan just rolled her eyes and began eating. Lily looked down the table and saw that James was having a rather animated conversation with Sirius.
"We need to come up with something really spectacular!" he said, "Something no one will ever forget!"
"Just wear a dress then!" Lily called down, "Or better yet, dress up like a toilet!"
James face went rather red and everyone gaped at Lily before bursting out laughing.
"Oh burn!" Megan yelled at James.
"That was huge!" Sirius said, "Very nice Lily, I'm impressed."
Lily grinned, "Thanks," she said.
*************
After dinner, Lily and Megan hung back so they could go check on their potion without anyone knowing. However, as soon as they left the hall, they were confronted by all of the Slytherin first years.
"Well, well, well, what have we hear?" Malfoy smirked as he swaggered forward, "Two Mudbloods who want to celebrate Halloween like muggles, well isn't that something new."
"I guess we'll need to make very scary costumes then," Snape smirked, "Just for them."
"So you're going as yourselves?" Megan asked.
The Slytherins looked taken aback but quickly regained their composure and glared at her menacingly.
"Good one!" Lily said as she and Megan high-fived.
"You know," Bellatrix said in a cold voice, "You shouldn't insult your betters. If you show no respect you shall receive none in return."
"Yeah 'cause you know how much I want your respect," Megan said as she rolled her eyes.
Bellatrix bristled like and angry cat, "I would watch your step if I were you," she hissed.
Megan raised her eyebrows, "Is that a threat?" she asked.
Bellatrix smiled in a way that sent chills up Lily's spine, "Maybe," she replied rather coyly, as if she was a cat toying with a mouse before devouring it.
Megan rolled her eyes again, "Right." she said, "I'll do that. Come on Lily, we should get going."
The two girls turned to leave but their way was blocked by two of the largest 11 year olds Lily had ever seen.
Megan's eyes narrowed, "Crabbe, Goyle," she said through clenched teeth, "Would you be so kind as to move?"
The boys grunted in reply and took a step forward but Megan wasn't about to back down.
"I'm asking you nicely," she said, "Please move."
"You wouldn't want to ruin our fun now would you?" Jennifer asked with a small pout, "We just want to play with you two."
Megan turned to her, "Oh, I wouldn't dream of it," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Lily watched Megan and noticed she was slowly pulling out her wand, careful to keep it hidden from in her sleeve.
"Well then how could you even think of leaving?" Jennifer asked.
In a flash, Megan had her wand out and pointed it straight up in the air.
"Cielieux!" she yelled and with a loud bang, a large cloud of thick fog floated out of her wand, encircling the entire group.
Within seconds, the frantic yells and screams of the Slytherins were heard. Lily looked around, trying to see where Megan had gone. She felt someone grab her arm and, assuming it was Megan, allowed them to drag her out of the fog with little resistance. However, once out of the fog, she saw it was Malfoy, not Megan, who had pulled her out of the fog. He was wearing a particularly chilling expression. Lily couldn't understand how someone so young could look so evil.
"Let me go!" she yelled as she tried to pull free, but Malfoy held fast.
"I'm afraid I can't do that," he replied as he pulled out his wand, "Seeing as I can't inflict my revenge on Megan, you'll just have to do."
"What are you going to do?" Lily asked, a note of panic in her voice.
Malfoy smiled a sinister smile but before he could reply, he was blasted backwards. Lily turned to see Megan with her wand out looking absolutely livid. She walked over to Lily rather briskly.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"Yeah, fine," Lily aid, but her voice shook slightly, "What did you do to him?"
"Oh, he's just stunned," Megan said dismissively, "Come on, we should get out of here." She pointed her wand, mutterer something then grabbed Lily and bolted down the hallway.
"Aren't you worried you'll get in trouble?" Lily asked when they stopped running.
Megan shrugged, "What are they going to do?" she said, "Say two of us attacked more then 10 of them? I doubt anyone would believe them."
"But aren't you worried about what they'll do for revenge?" asked Lily.
"Not really," Megan replied, "It's just the Slytherins, they can't do anything."
"If you say so," Lily said, but she still felt uneasy.
*************
It was the day before Halloween and the girls were busy scheming of pranks to pull on the boys for Devil's night in Lily, Megan, Karen and Carol's room.
"We need something really good," said Karen, "Something they'll never forget."
"I feel kind of bad about doing it to all of them though," Julie said, "I mean, James and Sirius are the only ones who ever do anything bad."
"Yes, but all the boys hang out with them and are therefore guilty by association," Megan said.
"What are we going to do though?" Lily asked, "Any ideas?"
Megan grinned as she pulled out a piece of paper, "Well, here's a few," she said.
Brittany took the paper. "Toilet paper, shaving cream, water, markers, paint, hair dye, make-up, pudding, mud, worms, glue, feathers, bubblegum toothpaste, fake vomit and dog doo," she read aloud. She looked up, "OK, wow," she said.
"And I wrote specifics for each boy so they're all unique," Megan said, "For example, our dear friend Sirius Black will receive blue hair, a fabulous make-up job, shaving cream and pudding all over him topped with feathers and shredded toilet paper. Our dear friend James Potter will receive the five-star treatment as well. This includes, pink hair, topped with feathers to give it more texture, half of a mud pack, complete with worms, a lovely make-up job and scribbles in permanent marker all over him. Not to mention the fact that he will be utterly surrounded by fake vomit and dog doo and just for fun, will splash some water on hi lower body for added effect."
"I think I'm going to like this," Lily said with a grin.
*************
The next few hours were spent organizing supplies and learning simple spells to make the work faster. Each girl was assigned a specific target. Lily of course had James and Megan had Sirius, while Karen had Remus, Carol had Peter, Julie had Steve, Brittany had Dave, Kristin had Shawn and Erin had Aaron. (A/N: Isn't the last pairing ironical???)
"OK, here's what we do," Megan said, "We wait for them all to go to sleep then sneak into their dorms. We'll probably have to wait until at least midnight but I managed to plant a special little trinket I got at Diagon Alley in their room to keep us informed about what's going on."
"How did you get into their room?" asked Carol.
Megan grinned, "Who said I went in their room?" she said, "I used a hover charm to make it follow them upstairs earlier."
"Ah," said Carol, "I see."
"Anyway, it sort of works like those walkie-talkies muggles use," Megan explained, "I have the receiver here so we can listen to what's going on." She pulled out a small silver ball that was vibrating slightly. She tapped it and suddenly the voices of the boys were heard.
"I still say we should pull a prank on the girls tonight," came Sirius' voice.
"If we did Megan would murder me," came James' voice, "And it'd be all your fault, you and your stupid idea for a bet."
"Don't blame me, I thought you'd win," Sirius replied.
"You wanted Megan to win, don't deny it," James snapped, "Especially 'cause she's your girlfriend."
"Yeah right!" said Sirius with a laugh, "As if! We're friends, always have been, always will be. Just like you and me. You, me and her are like the three musketeers. Besides, you like Lily!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
Megan rolled her eyes, "Next thing you know they'll be singing "K I S S I N G" at each other," she said, "They always say the other has a crush on someone or other just to bug each other. Boys are so immature."
"You can say that again," agreed Karen.
Lily thought though, maybe James was just teasing her because he liked her but she still hated him. He really was a jerk and there was no way in a million years she'd ever like him at all, not even as friends.
A few hours left and soon the only sound that came from the silver ball was the sound of light snoring and deep breathing. The girls grabbed their things and were about to leave the room when Megan stopped them.
"Wait!" she said, "I should use a Disillusionment Charm so they can't see us!" She pulled out her wand and pointed at Lily and muttered something.
The next thing she knew, Lily felt as though she was melting and when she looked down at her hands, the had taken on the exact colour of her surroundings.
"OK, that's weird," Carol said, "What did you do?"
"I made it so she's like a chameleon," Megan explained, "This way the boys can't see us."
"I feel really weird," said Lily.
"I'm not surprised," said Megan.
She did the same thing to all the other girls before doing it to herself. They all left and headed for the boys' dormitories intent on completing their mission.
*************
The next morning, the girls awoke to panicked screams and yells. Grinning, they jumped out of bed and ran down to the Common Room to discover the boys had awakened to discover their new looks and were very confused.
"Nice costumes boys," Megan commented, "But the party's not until tonight."
"You did all this didn't you?" James said.
"Of course not," Megan said, "My target was Sirius. Your new look was done by Lily, you know, your secret crush."
James went bright red, "What are you talking about?" he said.
"Oh, didn't I show you my new toy?" Megan said as she pulled out the little silver ball, "It's kind of like those walkie-talkies muggles use to talk to each other. You boys sure say interesting things when you don't think us girls are listening."
All the boys looked mortified.
"And I haven't even told you the best part!" Megan said, "It records everything it hears for later playback! Isn't that cool?"
"You are so dead!!!" yelled James as he lunged at a laughing Megan who darted out of his way.
Soon all the boys were chasing the girls around the common room while the older Gryffindors laughed hysterically.
"Head for the dorms!" Megan yelled above the racket and the girls followed her lead and shot up the stairs to their dorms. However, when the boys went to follow, the stairs turned into a slide and they couldn't get upstairs but could only yell up at the girls from the bottom while the girls taunted them.
*************
The most amazing thing about the whole incident was that the girls didn't get in trouble for what they'd done to the boys because they easily fixed everything with a quick wave of a wand before any of the teachers saw.
The rest of the day there was quite a lot of tension between the boys and girls until lunchtime when all was forgiven when the boys realized it wasn't really that bad and was actually funny. Plus, they also needed to get homework answers from them because none of them did well in Potions.
Later that night, the girls readied themselves for the costume party. They had put together their own costumes and then Megan helped them to make them a bit more realistic with the help of some magic.
"You sure know some useful spells," commented Julie as Megan added lace to the hem of her skirt, "How do you know all these spells?"
Megan handed Julie her now lace-trimmed skirt and shrugged, "My mom likes to sew so she uses a lot of these spells," she explained, "That and I just read a lot."
"What's your costume Megan?" Lily said as she adjusted her cat ears.
"Yeah Megan," said Carol, "You've kept us in suspense long enough."
Megan grinned, "Alright, but its real isn't anything fancy," she said as she went over to her trunk. She rummaged around for a minute then pulled out a pile of clothes, then disappeared behind her bed curtains to change. She emerged a few minutes later dressed in a flowing dark blue dress and a black belt with a silver buckle. She also wore a dark purple cape that was pinned under her chin by a silver and blue brooch. She had grown her hair out but had kept it her natural colour and if fell across her shoulders making her look several years older. For added effect to show it was still her, she wore a sword and scabbard on her belt. (A/N: The costume is based on a character from one of my original fiction stories. She happens to be one of my favourite characters I've ever written so I decided to include in somehow.) All the girls stared at her in surprise.
"OK, who are you and what have you done with Megan?" asked Karen.
"No one's going to know it's you!" Lily exclaimed.
"When they see the sword they will," Megan said with a grin.
"Where did you get the idea for such a cool costume?" asked Karen.
Megan shrugged, "It just sort of came to me," she replied, "Now, are we going to go or just sit around talking all night?"
The girls headed down to the common room in their finery. Lily twirled her tail around a bit as they descended the stairs. She liked her black cat costume a lot, even if it was pretty ordinary. Actually, all of the girl's costumes were pretty tame, nothing was overly weird which was fine; it was the boys' job to be over the top. Karen was a gypsy, Carol was a fairy, Julie was a doll, Brittany was an angel, Kristin was a ladybug and Erin was a pumpkin.
When the girls reached the common room, the eight boys, who were dressed up as well, greeted them. Sirius was knight, Remus was a werewolf (A/N: Yet another ironical thing.), which Lily found rather amusing, Peter a ghost, Lily had the feeling he'd left his costume to the last minute, Steve was a mad scientist, Dave was a dragon, Shawn was Cesaer, Aaron was a vampire and James was.
"I can't believe you actually took my advice," Lily said as she looked James' costume over, he was dressed like a toilet. "But I must say it's kind of a 'crappy' costume, if you know what I mean."
Everyone groaned at the horrible pun, except Steve, who, for some strange reason, thought it was hilarious and was laughing rather hard.
"Promise me you'll never say something like that ever again," said Carol.
Lily grinned, "OK," she said, "I'll try not too."
"You haven't seen the best part yet though!" James said, "Look! It even flushes!" He pressed the handle on his costume and the sound of water was heard.
"Wow," commented Megan, "Who'd you get to help you with that?"
"Who said I had help?" James asked but when Megan rolled her eyes he sighed, "Alright, I got help from Alex and Frank, so sue me."
"Are we going to the party or what?" asked Karen.
"Yeah! Let's go!" everyone said and they left.
When the group entered the great hall they were immediately enchanted by all the amazingly magical decorations. There were already lots of students there in a variety of costumes. There was a group of about 10 people who had come dressed up like part of a deck of cards and another group of people were famous statues/monuments, which included the Statue of Liberty, the Sphinx and the Eiffel Tower. Another group had come dressed as a rock band, complete with long hair and ripped up clothes.
"I think they're supposed to be the Musical Things," Megan said to Lily, "They're a popular rock band in the wizarding world."
One girl was dressed like a peacock, another girl was a parrot and yet another girl was a flamingo. One boy was dressed up like an astronaut and a boy and girl were dressed up like prehistoric people, complete with animal skin clothes and bones in their hair.
"These costumes are amazing!" exclaimed Carol.
"You can say that again!" said Dave, "And to think I almost came as a football player!" (A/N: Remember, in Britain soccer is called football.)
"Oh my god!" exclaimed Brittany, "Look at Dumbledore!"
Everyone turned and see Dumbledore dressed as a disco dancer, complete with an afro and everything. Needless to say nearly everyone in the Great Hall was in shock.
"What's up dudes?" Dumbledore asked.
Everyone roared with laughter and applauded his costume.
"This is the best Halloween ever!" said Erin.
Music was playing and there was all kinds of food and games around. Megan and Lily wandered over to the ring toss to try their luck but before they could start, Sirius and James had come up beside them.
"Hello ladies," Sirius said, "Your knights in shining armour have arrived."
Megan snorted and Lily giggled.
"OK, your knight in shining armour and your toilet have arrived," said Sirius.
"Hey!" said James.
"You want us to win you some prizes?" Sirius asked.
"I think we're quite capable of winning our own prizes thank you very much," said Megan as she casually touched the hilt of her sword.
"Ah," Sirius said as he eyed the sword, "I see."
"Besides," said Lily, "You guys probably aren't any good anyway."
"Oh yeah?" said James, "Just watch us."
Several minutes later, the boys had won a few small prizes.
"Now it's our turn," said Megan as she and Lily picked up a few rings. Very soon, they had a large pile of prizes of their own.
"Now you must have cheated," said James, "There is no way you're that good. Girls are never good at stuff like this."
"Right." said Megan, "I'm just really good at Quiddicth and football (A/N: Soccer for all non-British people.) and have good hand-eye coordination."
"And I just happen to play sports with my friends all the time," Lily said, "But no, we must have cheated because we're girls."
"Do you want some of our prizes to make you feel better?" asked Megan as she held out a doll.
"No!" both boys said in unison.
The girls laughed.
"OK, but don't pout about being second best then," Lily said as the girls left with their new toys.
"Let's go in the Haunted House!" Megan said excitedly as she pointed at small house that had been erected in the far corner of the hall.
"OK!" Lily said.
They left their prizes outside with Alex, who was in charge of the Haunted House, and went inside.
"This is kind of creepy," Lily said as she looked around in the semi- darkness.
"It's not that bad," Megan said, "Come on, let's go this way."
The girls headed down a hallway and heard many creepy/haunted house type noises.
"This is so cliché," Megan said, "Next thing you know the boys will jump out at us to try an scare us."
They heard familiar voices.
"I bet they're scared out of their wits!" they heard James say, "All girls hate haunted houses!"
"We should scare them in here," they heard Sirius say, "That'd be awesome."
Megan and Lily grinned then ducked inside a closet but kept the door open a crack to see out.
"I wonder where they are?" James said as he stopped only a few feet away from the door.
"Yeah," said Sirius, "They weren't too far ahead of us."
"One." Megan whispered, "Two."
"Do you hear something?" James asked.
"Just creaking floorboards and rattling chains," said Sirius, "Why?"
"I thought I heard voices," said James.
"Well it is a haunted house," said Sirius.
"Three!" Megan whispered then she and Lily burst out of the closet screaming and yelling like crazy.
"AHHHHHHH!!!" yelled the boys who turned and ran back the way they'd come.
Lily and Megan collapsed in a heap of giggles on the floor.
"That was so not funny," James said as he and Sirius returned.
"Yes it was!" both girls said.
"Your faces were priceless!" Megan said.
"Yeah, you were scared out of your minds!" Lily added.
"And you say we're immature," said Sirius.
The rest of the party was spent having an absolute blast. Lily couldn't remember ever having so much fun. She was even getting along with James of all people. The food was excellent and there were plenty of jokes and Lily was constantly laughing. At one point Peeves, the Hogwarts poltergeist, dropped in and started throwing water balloons at people, which was highly annoying, but then the Bloody Baron, the resident Slytherin ghost put a stop to it and Peeves left without much fuss.
"Why do they even have a poltergeist?" Lily heard Jennifer, who was dressed like a sorceress, say to Bellatrix, who was also dressed like a sorceress, "If this was a half-way decent school they'd get rid of him."
Bellatrix nodded in agreement, "They should," she said, "He is quite a nuisance."
"But you're a bigger nuisance," Lily muttered under her breath.
"Pardon?" Remus said.
"Nothing," Lily replied, but she fumed inside. She had heard a lot of ugly rumours about the Slytherins but had tried not to assume things about them. However, after the incident outside the Great hall, she absolutely loathed the lot of them. They really were just a bunch of evil, spoiled, little brats. They had yet to give her a reason to think otherwise and she doubted they ever would.
Slowly, the party ended and the students left to go to bed. However, the Gryffindors were far to hyper to go to bed just yet and decided to have their own party in the common room. That is, until Professor McGonagall appeared in the portrait hole in her dressing gown and robe and ordered them to stop.
"But Professor," said one of Alex's friends, "It's only 1 o'clock."
"I don't care what time it is," said Professor McGonagall, "It's time for the lot of you to go to bed. You can have a party when you when your first Quidditch match."
The group slowly trudged up to bed. Lily curled up under her nice warm covers but couldn't get to sleep because of all the sugar she's consumed. She lay staring out the window at the sky.
"I am never going to get to sleep," Megan said from the next bed over, "Too much sugar."
"Same," said Lily, "But it was so worth it."
"Were you actually getting along with James earlier?" Karen asked.
Lily sat up, "I guess so, why?" she said.
"I thought you thought he was the biggest jerk ever," said Karen.
"I do," said Lily, "But he was fine tonight so I got along with him."
"I think someone has a crush," Megan said.
"Oh shut up!" said Lily, "I'm not even friends with the guy and you're saying I have a crush on him? Give me a break."
"Well, we already know he kind of has a thing for you," Carol said.
"Oh give it up," said Lily, "Please, the guy is still a jerk. I bet tomorrow he'll go back to being his old arrogant self."
"Probably," Megan said, "But you never know, people change."
"Shut up," Lily said as she threw her pillow at Megan but missed.
"Pillow fight!" Megan yelled as she launched Lily's pillow back at her.
The girls jumped up and started whacking each other with their pillows until a sixth year girl came in and told them to settle and go to bed.
As Lily drifted off to sleep, she couldn't help but think about how great Hogwarts was.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It's finally done! Thanks again to Jen who helped me out by posting this for me. Took awhile but it's a pretty action-packed chapter. I know, near the end I stopped giving a lot of detail but oh well, it still works out. I think my foreshadowing is a tad to strong in this chapter but that's OK, you probably already picked up on the same stuff in previous chapters. Yeah, I know, sometimes they (meaning Lily and friends) don't act like 11 year olds but I'm working on that. I am aware most 11 year olds are not very sarcastic so I'll try and fix that. I'm also aware my creativity is horrible as far as Halloween costumes go but the problem is that all you really see now days are video game, TV, and movie characters at Halloween. I know, the fact that Remus was dressed like a werewolf is pretty ironical (Can you believe that's a real word? At least, according to my spellchecker it is.) but I thought it was funny. Anywho, chapter 18 should be finished soon, I'm still writing it out in rough at the moment but I should finish it really soon, it'll depend on how fast I type. However, I have a huge law project due Monday so it probably won't be up until next week. Well, hope you enjoyed! Please review, thanks!!!
~*~MeGaN~*~