Halloween

Halloween 1995

Seventh Year

Hufflepuffs were loyal to everyone in their house—even the ones who acted like prats—but Jo and Leili were two favorites and they would be graduating this year. So, in an effort to make this Halloween separate from every other Halloween the students of Hufflepuff organized their very own, very special, very exclusive Halloween party.

There would be costumes and pumpkins and Halloween themed games and candy, for there must always be candy at a Halloween party. Jo and Leili knew about this party because a. it was being thrown for them and b. no one in their house could keep a secret from them for very long—they were just too nosey. So when Halloween night rolled around Jo and Leilani dressed in costumes to beat all the rest.

Jo came through the Room of Requirement's door first, wearing a long, elegant black dress that Marcus would have been sure to enjoy, not that she thought he would be there or that she was trying to impress him, she just liked the dress; it had a sweetheart neckline and spider web sleeves snaking down her arms and for one night, no one could tell how fiercely she hated spiders.

The skirt hugged her waist and hips and fell to the floor with a flare; there was a slit to just below her hip showing off long legs and spiky heels. Her hair was down and, for once, behaving, and she wore black lipstick to match black eye shadow. This was not what one would normally think of as a school-appropriate dress, but Jo knew she could get away with it. If she left the room she would just sew up the slit with a little magic and no teacher would be the wiser. It would be a shame to modify the dress like that though, however temporarily.

Leili came in shortly after her; her brown hair French braided between two life-like cat ears and tossed over one shoulder. She was wearing the pinkest thing anyone had ever seen her wear, especially after she'd sworn off pink in her fourth year. The dress was pink with dark pink stripes; the bodice had a slight sweetheart neckline edged with a dark pink ruffle. Her striped sleeves ended at her elbows and the slightly flouncy skirt was edged in yet another ruffle of dark pink.

Leilani joined Jo and they stared in awe at the decorating job. There were black and orange streamers everywhere, a giant spider piñata in one corner, something Jo would later attack with much glee and fervor.

Other decorations included requisitioned bats from the great hall, a tub of floating apples, paper towel ghosts, and mini pumpkin lanterns hanging from the ceiling.

"Oi, Freddie, look at Leilani," George said across the room, keeping his voice casually neutral with a touch of teasing.

Fred turned and nearly choked on his apple cider. She'd told him she was dressing as a cat, but somehow this was not what he'd expected. He watched the pink striped ears perched in her hair as they twitched and swiveled towards sounds and he couldn't stop staring at her.

He did the only thing he could think to do, he walked over to her and said, "Hell of a costuming job you two pulled off!" He caught the matching tail loosely and grinned, "How'd you do the tail?" he asked her mischievously.

"Wouldn't you like to know!" Leili beamed at him, "I didn't know you were going to be here!"

"I guess our 'Puffs can keep a better secret than we thought." Neither of them had a second thought as to what else their house mates might be hiding.

Jo grinned as Luna skipped over—she was dressed as a lion—grabbed Leili's hand and dragged her over to a giant pumpkin fashioned out of orange balloons filled with confetti.

Leili laughed as she took the offered darts.

"Fred," Jo said, stopping him from joining Leili just yet.

"Is this where you tell me if I hurt her, you'll skin me alive?" He asked, both of them watching Leilani.

"If you hurt her, you'd better hope the least I do is skin you alive."

"If I hurt her, I deserve it," he said seriously.

"Ok," she said.

"Jocelyn."

She turned to him, "What?"

"What's her idea of the best date?"

"Why not ask her?"

"I want it to be a surprise."

She thought about it for a second, "You know the concept of boys buying girls drinks at the bar?"

"Yeah, but she doesn't like butterbeer and has sworn off actual alcohol."

"Same idea, but at a bookstore, and then take her out for chocolate malted—don't forget the whipped cream and sprinkles. After the malted, or before, it doesn't really matter, take her out dancing—proper dancing."

"She… doesn't dance…"

Jo's lips quirked into a Mona-Lisa smile, "Doesn't she?" before wandering over to the spider piñata.

Fred moved to stand behind Leilani, watching as she took aim and threw the dart, miraculously hitting two balloons with one dart.

He laughed as she whooped and gave a gleeful bounce. She gloated to herself as she turned to look at him. He grinned at her before placing his palm over her cheek, his other hand playing with the tail that curled around his wrist. He began to close the distance between them.

She didn't wait for him to finish this time. She fisted one hand in his shirt, rose up on her toes and pressed her lips against his. Their first kiss! Finally! It quite literally made her toes curl in her shoes. His hand cupped the base of her skull and gently adjusted their positioning to allow for better kissage.

At the piñata, Jo was blindfolded by a young Hufflepuff, and turned in a circle three times. Someone took her hand and pressed her beater's bat into it. She took the bat and attacked the spider piñata with all the enthusiasm of someone crushing a spider with a shoe, only on a much larger scale.

Being blindfolded, she didn't see Marcus sneak in.

Marcus lurked nearby as Jo sent the piñata flying away while still swinging the bat around trying to re-locate it. Marcus tried very hard not to laugh at the sight of a beater flinging a bat around so fruitlessly. Sneaking closer, he ducked as she narrowly missed him.

"Nice outfit," he whispered before catching her face between his hands and kissing her. When he pulled away, the bat came down and clocked him—not hard, but not gently either—on the top of the head. "What was that for?" he whispered.

"I warned you. At the Yule ball last year, I warned you," she informed him, pulling off the blindfold.

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not," Marcus said, kissing her again.

"Shut-up," Jo smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck as she kissed him.