Disclaimer: Stupid disclaimers, they think that they're just too good for anyone. Well, what I have to say to THAT is: (falls asleep)
A/N: Okaaaaay now. I am SO tired right now, and it's in the middle of the day! But I'll keep on writing for all you readers.
Delayed Start: 11. Hogsemede Hijinks
"Come ON guys!" cried Aileen to the famous trio. "We'll miss the carriage into Hogsemede!" Aileen had worked on making sure that today was going to be really fun; not only for Harry, but for the rest of them as well. It wasn't easy, but she put together some surprises for them that would make it a total blast.
"Yeah, yeah, we're coming," grumbled Ron, still half asleep. None of the others had a clue as to what she had planned (A/N: Neither do I. No, seriously, I'm totally making this one up as I go. Go me.)
Aileen opened the carriage door for them, pretending to act like a butler. "Welcome to your carriage, sirs and madams. I do hope you enjoy your ride," she said, doing one of her perfect imitations of a rich servant. She bowed deeply as they walked inside, and then hopped in herself, landing next to Hermione and across from Harry. Ron was in the corner, and he had fallen--quite loudly--asleep.
Aileen suddenly changed her role again and started to act like a snobby old lady. "Oh how rude, what a brute!" she cried, looking at Ron and waving a Chinese fan she had just conjured out of midair.
Ron opened one eye and snuffed at her. She waved back to him with a big grin on her face. He groaned and went back to sleep.
"Wow," said Hermione, noticing her excitement. "You have some energy today."
"Yeah, it's just Hogsemede," put in Harry. "You've been there before."
"I know that, silly." Aileen said, still smiling widely. "I just have some... preparations that I made, and I'm happy about it."
"You're not gonna have Charlie attack Malfoy again, are you?" Hermione asked, looking at her skeptically.
"No!" Aileen grabbed Charlie off of her neck and squeezed him tightly to herself in a big hug, which made him squirm. "I would NEVER do that to him again! He could get hurt!"
"It looks like your hurting him right now," put in Harry, while nodding to the snake in her arms. She quickly let him go and he slithered into her pocket.
"I'm going to get my nap here now," he grumbled. "Please no interruptions until we get there, okay?"
"Fine." Aileen pouted to her little pet.
The carriage set off, and they were pulled through the countryside. Eventually, they spotted a speck off in the distance - otherwise known as Hogsemede. (A/N: This may be redundant, but I still have no clue what I'm going to do! Help! Wait, once you read this, it will have been figured out. Totally ignore this then.)
A few minutes later, the carriage stopped behind all the others and the group hopped (and got dragged, in Ron's case) out. Suddenly, Aileen started to run off towards the shops.
"Let's go! Let's go!" she cried, glancing behind her to make sure that they were following before she turned around again to keep on running.
"Wait up!" Harry cried, starting to run out of breath. How was she able to run that fast? He wondered, before having to stop at the request of a stitch in his side.
Hermione ran up beside him, followed by Ron. "You okay?" she asked.
He nodded. "Yeah, but I lost Aileen. I can't believe that she's so-"
"Uh, Harry? Hermione?" asked Ron, sounding a bit scared.
"Yeah, what's the mat-" Harry turned around, and gaped. There just happened to be a floating pumpkin behind them. It also happened to be wielding a sword. (A/N: (suddenly realizes that this is going to be one weird chapter))
"Petrificus Totalus!" Hermione shouted. A gray beam shot out of her wand at the pumpkin. It easily dodged the spell, and turned back to them, now snarling angrily.
"I think we should take that as a sign to run!" Ron shouted, speeding past Harry and Hermione. They looked at each other for a second, letting their minds digest what just happened.
"Wait a minute!" They cried in unison. "Ron, you jerk!" They scampered off the ground and started to run after him, the pumpkin floating behind them.
"What's going on?" Harry cried, looking around. "Why aren't the people noticing anything!" It was true. Witches and Wizards alike were just going along on their business, completely ignoring the menacing pumpkin head and its sword. It was like they didn't see it at all.
"This way!" cried Hermione, slipping into an alley. Harry followed her. The pumpkin seemed to not notice that they left and flew on past their hiding spot.
"Do you have any idea what the hell is going on?" asked Harry, breathless.
"Well," said Hermione, panting, "It seemed like nobody noticed it was chasing us. Or even that it was there, for that matter."
"Yeah, I noticed that too. What could cause it?"
"Well," she said, "It almost seems like there's a spell on it."
"What do you mean? Like Voldemort put a spell on it or something?"
"Do you think he'd send a pumpkin after us?"
"Umm, not really."
"Of course not! Personally, I think it's all-" she paused, staring past him. Harry followed her gaze and looked right up at a sword pointing towards him.
"Surprise, surprise," said a dry, raspy voice, obviously the pumpkin. "Wanna play tag?" it swung the sword in midair, cutting off a piece of Harry's hair.
Harry and Hermione promptly screamed and flew out of the alley, with Mr. Pumpkin head on their trail.
"What were you saying?" Harry yelled at Hermione while running.
"I think that this pumpkin isn't here to hurt us at all, just to-" Hermione started, getting cut off yet again as she ran into Malfoy, knocking him over.
"What the hell are you doing, you filthy mudblood!" he hollered at her, while pushing her off.
"Pumpkin chasing us - sword - scary - bad voice," they jumbled together all at once, making Malfoy angrier.
"WHAT!" he screamed.
"There's a pumpkin head with a sword chasing us! Look!" They pointed to the pumpkin, which was catching up to them now that they weren't running.
"I don't see a thing! What the hell are you trying to do to me!" he hollered. To him, it looked like they were pointing at thin air.
"There! There!" Hermione shook Draco and pointed, yet again, to the pumpkin and its swinging sword.
"There isn't anything there!" he angrily pushed Hermione's hands off of his shoulders and stomped away, leaving them alone with the semi-invisible monster-thing.
"No!" Hermione cried, holding up her wand. "I won't run anymore! I'll get him this time for sure! Scou-"
"Stupefy!" A colorful beam shot out from somewhere behind the pumpkin and hit it, making it fly through the air and hit the ground with a lifeless thump. It rolled for a few yards before stopping at Harry's feet. Both Harry and Hermione had no idea what to do.
Suddenly Ron ran out from behind a cart, wand in hand.
"I got him! I got him!" he cried, pointing at the pumpkin. That was true, he got the pumpkin. However, the sword was as lively as ever.
'sliss' The sword swiped through the air, then spun around to point at Ron.
"Incendio!" Hermione finally got a full word out, sending the fiery red spell straight at the sword.
Sadly, it never hit the sword. It hit something before that. Something invisible. Something that managed to yelp at the heat and accidentally drop an invisibility cloak. Something that wasn't a thing - it was a girl. A girl that just happened to have a snake wrapped around her neck.
"Aileen!" everyone cried at once, making her eyes open wide.
"Oops," she whispered. "That wasn't supposed to happen."
"What on earth!"
"Why did you do that?"
"Were you trying to kill us? I thought that you were our friend!"
"Guys, stop!" Aileen cried. "It wasn't supposed to happen like this! Believe me! Please!"
"Fine," said Harry, angrily. "I'll give you one minute to explain yourself."
"Okay," started Aileen, taking a big breath, "This whole thing was meant as a big Halloween joke. I was never going to hurt you. I would never do that. What was supposed to happen would have been honestly funny. I was going to chase you around, which I did, scaring you out of your wits. Eventually, I would have chased you right back into the carriages, then follow you inside. Once there, I was gonna take off this stupid disguise, yell surprise, and give you the candy I bought for you guys!" she said, gasping.
"Can you prove that?" Ron asked.
"Yes!" she cried, pulling out three bags full of candy. "See?"
"You- you were telling the truth? But how did you get an invisibility cloak? And why was it that only WE could see you?" asked Harry.
"Well, the invisibility cloak is yours," she said, pointing to the charred fabric. "Don't worry, I'll fix it later," she said to Harry's pained look. "The fact that only you guys could see me - well that was a spell. I cast a reflective spell then un-cast you guys when you weren't looking. You were the only ones who could see me since we stepped out of the carriage."
"So that's why you ran from us? To get the costume together? And HOW did you get my cloak?"
"Yep. Oh, you left it on the couch in the common room a few days ago. I just snatched it up."
Harry sighed, and then looked back at Aileen. "Hey," he asked, "Can we still have that candy?"
A/N: That was the WEIRDEST THING I EVER WROTE. I did NOT expect it to come out like this. But I must say, It was SO much fun to make Harry and the gang so OOC and to take a break from the main story. The next chapter will get right back into it, I promise.
Caitlyn: Well, thank you. I appreciate it. :)
Swordmasterk14: Wake up (hits Kam). That review made no sense. The chapter portion of it was just as long as all of the other chapters; I made sure of that. This one should make you a little happier, though. A bit longer than normal.
EvangelicShadowStrike: This is year five. Umbridge is in the books in year five. Besides, she adds an extra element to the story that Snape just can't give. Oh - and thanks!
Wildphire: Your welcome. Here you go, fresh off the oven (well not really). LOL.
littleblackdove: Honestly, you won't actually really know the guy that well until... Sometime after Aileen's birthday, which is a few months after Christmas. No need to worry, it'll all come together.
Steph: The pairing is Aileen (oc) x unknownasofnow. This story is a bit different, as you won't know who the pairing is until... Maybe three chapters from the ending? Even then, it won't be official until the last chapter. I like making readers wonder. Heehee. :)
colorfree: Yeah, they probably would in the books, but as you said, my story. I can go totally OOC with pumpkin head madness or stick to the books, and I like the first choice better. LOL :)
Wolf: Yeah, I know him. Or should I say I know OF him, I don't know him personally. That's pretty interesting. Although there's been a lot of Harry mania in these past few chapters, he isn't what this story is about. It's all Aileen. Well, thanks. I'll try to keep updating on time.
Sir Fuzzalot: It's rare that an author gets a reviewer that's more helpful than an English book- and you are. This isn't sarcastic, or a joke, you really have helped me these past couple of chapters. I honestly want to thank you. So thank you. Thank you so much. :) (Gives Mr. Nice Reviewer virtual cookie)
Okay, I've decided to make a change about what day the story comes out. Now it's going to be on Sundays. That way, I have all of Saturday to edit more for all you guys. Okay?
C u guys Sunday the... Sixth. The sixth of November.
Kyogera