A/N-Enjoy the story. Thank you to my beta Mia.
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Orion had asked what Cassie thought was so special about Halloween, since that was all she could keep talking about. She explained that it was an important magical holiday, but she didn't understand why. All she knew was that American Muggles celebrated Halloween by dressing up and going door to door to get free candy. Orion, knowing Cassie had lived in London most of her life, asked how she had any idea about American Muggle traditions. Cassie said her mother had lived there before she was born for a few years and enjoyed the tradition. It had now become a family tradition to dress up for Halloween and eat some candy. Orion was baffled now. His father had lived in the United States before he was born and once, during an argument between his father and his grandmother, his grandmother blamed Orion's rudeness on the fact that he had lived in the United States. That was the only time that he had heard about it, unless he counted the news article, but he never believed anything a new article said.
Cassie was sad that she would not be able to celebrate a traditional Potter Halloween. That was when she came up with her little plan.
A Hogsmeade weekend had been planned for the weekend before Halloween and Cassie, being a first year, needed someone else's help. She turned to Orion the next time they saw each other in the library.
"Orion, can you do me a favour?" Cassie asked nicely, while they were studying.
"Depends."
"Would you be able to buy me some fabric so I can make myself a Halloween costume? And oh yeah, will you dress up for Halloween with me?" Cassie, still just eleven, could pull off the pouty face successfully.
"I'll get you the fabric if you give me the money. But why do you want me to dress up?"
"I want you to dress up so I won't be the only one. Besides, it'll be fun. And Mum and Harry will send candy if we dress up. Harry's going to stop by on Halloween; he's got to talk to Professor Dumbledore about something. Please?" Now Cassie resorted to begging. Orion realized how desperate Cassie was to keep part of her family with her.
"I'll dress up if we find more people, okay?" After he had said this, he knew Cassie already had that in mind.
"Good, because Ophelia and Tim already volunteered. I was going to go ask Azalea after we finished. Would you mind asking Alexia and Sebastian? Or at least ask Alexia, you know she hates me."
"Sure, I'll ask them, but I won't guarantee a single thing."
"Alright, I have to meet up with Azalea. Bye Orion." Cassie waved good-bye to Orion and skipped out of the library in the general direction of the Slytherin Common Room, where Azalea would be waiting for her outside.
Orion thought about what he was going to do now. Alexia would need some convincing but Orion could probably get Sebastian to agree. Maybe he could even convince Sebastian's friend Julia from Ravenclaw and his sister Marigold. And if Alexia was doing it, he might even be able to convince Tristan, which would in turn persuade the Slytherins to all dress up. He had one week to accomplish all of these goals and first was Sebastian.
Azalea and Sebastian were both waiting outside of the Common Room because Sebastian felt it his duty to protect his little sister. When Cassie came up, she was at first hesitant to mention her Halloween plan to Sebastian, but realized that he would be just as open as Azalea would be. So she began.
"Hey, I have a favour to ask of you two."
"Depends on the favour," Sebastian replied, which designated him as the speaker.
"In my house, it's tradition to dress up for Halloween and give candy to each other. I thought it'd be fun if I dressed up and my friends did the same," Cassie said, leaving out the part about it being American and Muggle.
"It's not a Potter or Weasley tradition," Sebastian said, which surprised Cassie, who asked how he knew. "Simple, if it was a long rooted tradition, my parents would have pictures of your parents to make fun of them. Sorry, Slytherin thing."
"First off, Harry's not my dad. It's just something that we've done since my mum moved in with Harry years ago."
"Then where did the tradition come from? It had to start somewhere," Sebastian pointed out.
"It's an American Muggle tradition. My mum picked it up when she lived in New York before I was born." Azalea had been silent until this point, when she asked who Cassie's father was, if it wasn't Harry. "I don't know. Mum never talks about him and Harry just says it doesn't matter if we're blood-related or not, he still cares for me. Back to the point, will you dress up with me?"
"I'm in, only if you let us know how people dress up," Azalea added.
"I was thinking of dressing up like a princess this year, but people dress up as random things. Mum showed me pictures of people as vegetables, movie stars, witches, and some people get really creative. I was a pumpkin one year, a piece of candy another, and I was even a ballerina one year," Cassie said, her voice becoming more excited as she described the various costumes.
"I've got an idea. We should be a full regal court. You know, Muggle-style, since it's a Muggle holiday. Someone will be the king, another the queen, a prince and princess, and the various other people."
"Like a knight! Who saves the beautiful princess!" Azalea added.
"I think it's brilliant," Cassie said, "So far, Orion, Ophelia, Tim, and I agreed and now you two. Want to meet tomorrow so we can start planning the costumes?"
"The Library after dinner. I'll tell Orion. Night Cass," Sebastian walked into the Common Room.
"I think you're a genius. Oh yeah, you might want to get permission from Dumbledore so we don't have to wear our uniforms all day. But thanks for thinking of me. Bye!" Cassie thought asking Dumbledore would be a good idea and she knew he'd say yes. After all, he loved her very much.
Orion entered the Common Room after Sebastian and Azalea, both who filled Orion in on the details of the new plans. He approved of the changes and thought it would look better if they dressed similar. Azalea thought they should come with the different parts, but Orion though he should talk to Alexia before it got late. Azalea pleaded with Orion not to ask her, after all, she'd want to be the queen or princess. Orion added that they could just make her an evil queen. Azalea snickered at that. Alexia had just come down the stairs at that moment and Orion pulled her aside before anyone else could grab her.
"Alexia, I have a question to ask of you," Orion asked nervously.
She twirled her hair in her fingers while answering impatiently, "Get on with it."
"I was wondering if you'd like to dress in costumes for Halloween."
"Maybe, who else is donning costumes?" She continued to twirl her hair, acting as though she was not listening, though in reality she was listening very attentively.
"Well Sebastian, Azalea, Cassie and some Gryffs. Plus me."
"I guess so. Is it an all-day affair and what would I have to wear?"
"Cassie's going to get permission from Dumbledore so that we'll be allowed to wear the costumes all day. There's a meeting in the Library tomorrow after dinner. Think you can convince your brother to join us?" Orion hoped she'd be able to convince Tristan to join them. After all, he'd make a perfect king to compliment Alexia's queen. Unless they picked someone else to be queen. Perhaps Tristan's current girlfriend could be queen instead. There would time to think about that tomorrow during the meeting.
Cassie and Orion slowly spread the word about their little idea and several people showed up to the meeting. After presenting the general idea and reassuring everyone that they had Dumbledore's permission, she asked if anyone had any ideas for parts, or if anyone wanted to be anything in particular. At that moment, Tristan Wilkes and Marigold Flint dashed in, apologized for being late and sat down. They had come in holding hands and Ophelia spoke, "I think we've found our king and queen."
Azalea nodded her head in agreement, though Alexia protested, saying she should be queen. Orion eventually persuaded Alexia to be a princess instead, but it took a while. Initially they thought of a king, queen, prince, princess and knight, but felt they needed more in order to keep the ensemble.
It was Tim who came up with the next idea. "We need a dragon that the knight can fight because the dragon has stolen the princess, who's now a damsel in distress." Everyone agreed immediately, and started arguing about parts again. Alexia was now a princess, but not the damsel in distress.
"I'll be the dragon," Sebastian volunteered.
"May I be the damsel in distress?" Cassie asked.
"I think it's only fair that you're the damsel in distress. After all, this was your idea. Then I think Orion should be the knight who saves you," Tristan said.
"So who's left?" Orion asked after agreeing to be the knight.
"I need a part, as does Azalea and Tim. The rest of you have parts." Ophelia added.
"Oh can I be a priestess, please? The Druids certainly had one, and if not I'll improvise," Azalea said, hoping they'd agree.
"I think it's fine, umm, I want to be the squire or messenger. I'll be the one to tell the knight, Orion, when the damsel is in distress. How about that?" Tim asked. Everyone thought this would be a lot of fun and it turned out more like a mini play instead of a traditional Halloween, but Cassie was happy because she would still be able to dress up and her friends were doing this for her.
"Last is my costume. May I be the goddess that Azalea will worship?" Ophelia asked, already formulating how her costume would look.
"I think it's a brilliant idea!" Marigold said, "I'll help make all of the costumes, just let me measure everyone. I know all the spells and tell me if you have any ideas for your costume. I'll be in this area every day after dinner until we finish, how's that sound?"
"Thanks so much," Sebastian responded, "but I think it's time we head back to our common rooms. Night Mari, night little Gryffs." The Gryffindor first years scattered after Tristan gave them an evil look. Tristan, Alexia, and Orion left to give Sebastian, Azalea and Marigold a little family time. Marigold told them she regretted it, but she had an important exam to study for.
"Hey Sebastian?" Azalea asked as they headed back to
"What Azalea?"
"Do you ever wonder about Cassie and Orion? I mean, Cassie's never known her father and Orion doesn't remember his mother." Azalea paid close attention to what everyone said.
"Not really. It could just be a coincidence you know."
"But two people from prominent wizarding families just leaving and going to New York, since that's where both of their parents lived before they returned to England? I wouldn't say that's a coincidence."
"I would. Leave it be. Good night Azalea."
Throughout the following days, Marigold worked tirelessly in order to finish all of costumes in time for Halloween. They scripted the rest of the scenes during the nightly meetings in the library. Azalea stopped bothering Sebastian about her suspicions after he pointed out how different Cassie and Orion look and act. Early on Halloween morning, everyone gathered outside of the prefect's bathroom in order to change into their costumes. Tristan went in as Slytherin Head Boy and came out King Tristan of Hogwarts. Next was Alexia who came out as Princess Alexia of Hogwarts. Cassie came out as a damsel in distress, complete with long flowing hair. Sebastian looked like a Chinese Fireball when he had come out of the bathroom. Tim came out dressed as a simple woodsman, with Orion right behind him as a dashing knight. Azalea was the perfect priestess to compliment Ophelia's goddess. The goddess outfit was modelled after the Greek and Roman goddesses in mythology. Lastly, Marigold came out as the fair Queen Marigold of Hogwarts. As soon as she stepped out, everyone gasped. It was obvious she had spent the most time on her costume. Tim, Orion, and Sebastian all bowed down to her, while Ophelia, Azalea, Alexia, and Cassie curtsied. Tristan got down on one knee and kissed her hand gently. He rose up and laced his arm through hers, leading her towards the Great Hall.
When the group reached the Great Hall, few students were there, but those who were laughed at the group. Mostly they laughed because they had no idea what was going on or why a group of Slytherins, Gryffindors, and one Ravenclaw would dress in such an ornate fashion and get away with it. Professor Dumbledore merely smiled while Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall gaped, looking between the students and each other. They could not believe that Gryffindors and Slytherins would actually get along. Professor Dumbledore leaned over and whispered that it was young Cassie Weasley's idea and she had help from Mister Malfoy. The group vanished before most of the students woke up and alone, they would only get a snicker here and there.
Right after lunch, Sebastian as the Chinese Fireball kidnapped Damsel Cassie from her spot at the Gryffindor table. After he did that, Professor McGonagall told Professor Snape he should restrain his students better, but Professor Dumbledore, who was watching this with great amusement, asked the two professors to be quiet and watch the rest of the show.
A few minutes later, Timothy jumped up and ran over to ran Orion was sitting at the Slytherin table, shouting, "Good knight! You must save the Princess Cassandra, who is being held in a tower by an evil dragon. King Tristan and Queen Marigold wish their daughter returned safely. Please, you are our last hope." When he had finished his speech, Orion ran out of the room in the direction of Sebastian and Cassie. At that moment, Azalea went over to the Gryffindor table and got her knees in front of Ophelia. "Oh great Ophelia, Goddess of Safety! I pray that you return the princess home!" Lunch was over then and those remaining of the group congratulated each other on a job well done so far, but there was still the dinner performance. Everyone was really getting into character and having fun, commenting on how much they enjoyed Cassie's idea.
At dinner, it was Tristan and Timothy's turn first to speak and they stood in front of all of the tables.
"Your Majesty, I have told the great knight Orion, who has gone to look for your fair daughter, Her Highness Princess Cassandra." Tristan shook his head and waved Timothy off, but then Marigold and Alexia entered.
"Be nice, dear, the poor boy's done his best," Marigold said in the most regal voice she could.
"I wish I was kidnapped so I could be rescued by a handsome knight or prince," Alexia added dreamily. The food had not been served yet and by then some of the students wished the silly performance would end so that they could begin to eat.
Just then, Orion burst in carrying a stuffed version of Sebastian's costume to show he had slayed the dragon. Cassie, the dainty princess, followed behind. Sebastian snuck in from another entrance. Professor Dumbledore began to clap and urged the group to take a bow as most of the school joined in the clapping. When he had managed to quiet the Great Hall down, he spoke.
"First I'd like congratulate all of the students who have participated in today's little Halloween festivities that they created. I thought it was a marvellous idea. The rest of the school could learn from your example of Inter-House relations. Once again, a job well done!" Clapping began again, but it did not last nearly as long. Professor Dumbledore opened his mouth and the clapping stopped. "I'd also like to remind everyone that I had planned something special for Halloween. Today's feast will be grand, with each of you getting little crackers filled with candy, similar to Christmas crackers. Enjoy!"
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A/N-Thanks for reading and please review.
