Summary: In which Halloween happens and stuff.

A/N: I've decided I'm going to drop in some subtle (and maybe not-so-subtle) cameos of characters from some of my other fandoms, so just watch out for that.

Is most of this chapter fluff? I dunno is it? (Ok but I promise there will be actual plot in this!)

Peeves is in this one because he's just so much fun to write lol

Happy Valentine's Day to those of you who can actually enjoy it ha ha *sobs*

Hiccup sat at a table in the high-backed chairs of the Slytherin common room with Jack and Merlin one Tuesday evening. The lake outside the windows (why was that, anyway? Were the founders hoping to drown them all?) glowed slightly with the colors of the setting sun. It had a soothing effect, one that Hiccup really could have done without.

"I'm so bloody bored." Jack slammed his head on the table. "I'd even do homework right now if I could just have something to do."

Their usual evening entertainment of running down to Hogsmeade had been thoroughly cancelled by the absolute blizzard that had dropped itself on the castle. In October. Why was it already so cold? It wasn't even Halloween yet.

At any rate, the freak snowstorm that was now raging outside the castle walls had effectively put a stop to their evening wanderings, and Hiccup couldn't even get any solace from visiting Toothless, because of course that was cancelled, too. Hiccup worried. Toothless was a cold-blooded reptile. Would he be okay out in the cold? Would his internal fire be enough to keep him from freezing? Hiccup didn't know. Many dragons hibernated. Did Night Furys? Hiccup didn't know that, either. No one did.

Hiccup raised his gaze lazily to look at Jack. "Oh, did I hear you correctly? You actually miss homework? How shocking." They hadn't had homework at all this week, something Hiccup found very suspicious.

Jack huffed. "That's not what I meant, and you know it. If this snow keeps up, it'll be like Autumn never even existed. And what about Flying? I'll bet they cancel the lessons because of this." He gave a deep, depressed sigh that was probably a bit over the top.

Merlin snorted. "As if, you don't even really need them. You got the hang of it from the very first day."

"But," Jack sighed, "But it's so much fun, though!"

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and terrible for my heart. I swear, if I see you almost fall to your death one more time-"

"Alright, I get it, mum." Jack stood suddenly. "Do you know what? I'll be right back." And he left, marching through the brick wall with renewed purpose.

Merlin stared after him, his eyelids half closed. "What do you suppose he's doing?"

Hiccup shrugged. "Dunno. Don't care much either."

"Same."

"Kinda tired though."

"Yeah."

They sat for a few minutes before the passage opened again and Jack marched through, a box in his hands. He swept over to their table (an act made more dramatic by the robes that were the Hogwarts uniform) and slammed the box down.

"Three. Person. Wizard's. Chess." He grinned evilly at the two of them.

Hiccup blinked. "Oh dear."

And so it was that the Slytherin trio ended up staying awake far past their bed-time playing several aggressive matches of magical three-person chess in the dungeon common room.

Peeves was a man on a mission. A ghost on a mission. Poltergeist. On a mission. Whatever.

He was going to attend the Halloween feast, and he was going to wreak absolute havoc in there. This had been his goal each October for more years than he cared to keep track of. Of course, he could just go to Nearly Headless Nick's Death-day party, like every other year, but they were always incredibly boring. He'd tried everything he could think of to get into the Great Hall on Halloween. He'd attempted to sneak in through a suit of armor. He'd dressed up in robes, being slightly more physical than other "traditional" ghosts. He had simply turned invisible. Didn't work. He'd popped in and out of existence. Same results One year, he'd even just charged in through the open doors, but it wasn't long before the teachers had stopped him. And that was only the beginning of the ever-growing list.

This year, however, he had been trying his absolute best not to make trouble. It was so very painful that he'd had to try and isolate himself from the rest of the school. It was very boring.

Over the course of the last three months, he had discovered many secrets about the castle. First and foremost, the castle of Hogwarts was sentient to a degree. There was no telling just how sentient it was, but the fact remained that the old pile of stones was aware of its own existence and could manipulate its passageways in such a way as to further its own motives. And it did indeed have motives. What they were, exactly, was any ones guess.

The castle also changed over time. For instance, the Come-and-Go Room had not disappeared after being torched in the Battle of Hogwarts, but rather slowly moved its entrance while it reformed. Now, the entrance sat in the dungeons, a few turns down from the fruit bowl painting that hid the kitchens.

Salazar's Classroom hadn't changed a bit, however. The snake's carcass and skin still lay in the shadows of the giant chamber, and Salazar's enormous self still stood there with his long beard that really didn't quite match the real thing. It was almost as if the castle was ignoring that part on purpose, perhaps trying to isolate it from the identity of the school, or maybe so that someone could stumble across it and learn just what it could be used for.

There were also several ghosts he hadn't known of before. There was the ghost of a happy little crup that had once acted as a therapy dog. The creature's ghost was curiously warm, unlike any other ghost Peeves had ever met before, and it tended to only pop into existence when children were having nightmares. It would drape itself over the child until they were sufficiently comforted, then pop off again.

There were also some slightly darker poltergeists who, instead of being the more solid form of the children's mischief, like Peeves, were the embodiments of dark thoughts of revenge of those who had been subject to Filch's torment. These were of darker magic, so they stayed even after these cruel punishments were abolished, though they would most likely fizzle out after the man who caused those thoughts was dead.

They rarely showed themselves and dedicated their existences to making Filch's life as horrible as poltergeistly possible. Peeves made a point to avoid them (they weren't very fun at all), but since Filch never saw them, he always assumed that the mischief they caused was caused by Peeves. It was very rude of him. Peeves would never give any student a bloody nose, at least not one so bad that the caretaker had to spend over an hour cleaning up the mess.

All in all, Peeves' months of hiding were actually rather rewarding, if tedious. But, since he would of course have to be allowed to the feast on Halloween since he'd been so good, he could cause as much mayhem as he wanted before they finally kicked him out. Then he could fall back into his joyous routine of fun, this time with several hundred more tricks up his ghostly sleeves. And of course, he could introduce himself to all the ickle firsties...

Thursday evening couldn't come fast enough. Merida was bouncing in her seat during History of Magic, which was a rarity in and of itself, wishing fervently for a clock or a watch. Finally, when the bell rang, she was out the door before anyone else, dragging an exasperated Rapunzel behind her.

Down to the Great Hall for lunch, and then they had the afternoon off while the Great Hall was continued in its preparations. As the teachers put out giant Jack-O-Lanterns and conjured live bats out of thin air, Merida and Rapunzel ran back up to the tower as quickly as the could manage without causing suspicion.

Soon they were decked out in scarves and mittens, and they went down to the fifth floor, careful to avoid anyone who might bring up awkward questions.

Good old Greg slid aside, the same stony expression on his face. They went down the passage and he slid back to guard it. As they ran, the temperature steadily dropped until they could see their breath in the air. Finally they reached the staircase and clambered up it, eager for the warmth that would undoubtedly greet them in Dervish and Bange's.

They spent a good half hour looking over the invisible ink, collapsing cauldrons, and spetrespecs - because of course you'd find those in Hogsmeade - before leaving to wander the town.

As they walked, admiring the snow-coated village and chatting about the coming Halloween Feast, Merida spotted an all-too-familiar mop of white hair. She scowled.

"What?" Rapunzel looked in that direction and sighed when she realized who Merida was looking at. "Merida, this is getting old."

Merida huffed. "Fine. Lets just go get a couple of butterbeers."

So they went into the Three Broomsticks, which had become a favorite hang-out of theirs. They each ordered a hot drink and continued their idle conversation of pumpkin pie while they warmed their toes.

Then, there was a sound of several chairs scraping back as a group of three people came to join them. Frost, Haddock, and Whitelaw. Merida's scowl returned, but she decided she'd have to tolerate them for now, for Rapunzel if not anything else.

"Hey, Rapunzel," Frost grinned as he pulled off his green and silver scarf, "You excited for the Feast tonight?"

Rapunzel smiled. Clearly, they'd spoken more than once. "Yeah. When I was at home, we only really celebrated Christmas. And my birthday. But it'll be fun to see what other people do for the holidays."

Haddock (that name) hummed a little. "We only really celebrated Snoggletog on Berk. And things like Thor's Day Thursday, but it was mostly Snoggletog."

Merida squinted at him, unsure whether or not he was joking. "Snoggletog."

"Don't look at me, I'm not the one who picked such a stupid name. It's been done for generations and no one's ever thought to change it."

"Huh."

And so it was that Merida DunBroch decided not to openly hate the Slytherin trio.

Jack's excitement steadily grew as the five of them made their way back up the tunnel. They'd had to take turns getting through the mirror, so as not to attract attention, but they eventually all made it through.

Now, they made their slow way back to the castle, chattering excitedly about Halloween. Merida claimed there was going to be actual skeletons. Rapunzel thought there would be vampires hired to lurk around the Hall. Hiccup even offhandedly mentioned dragons at one point.

They had to get their common rooms quickly in order to change out of their heavy winter cloaks, and then they met in the Great Hall, though Jack noticed Merida seemed a bit reluctant.

The Hall itself was decorated spectacularly with huge pumpkins that Jack reckoned he could comfortably pace inside. Each of them was carved into some face that magically shifted from one expression to the next. The candlelight from inside gave them an eerily life-like effect.

The feast had already begun, and a few students were already sitting at their house tables. The tables in question were lined with black and orange tablecloths, and on the tablecloths were all sorts of Halloween dishes. There were even some that Jack had never seen before in his life, though since he'd grown up in the muggle world, that wasn't exactly a surprise.

The group had to split up, as they'd no doubt have to sit at their respective house tables. As they sat down and began to eat to their hearts' desire, more students trickled in, as well as a few ghosts, many of whom Jack had yet to meet.

After the Hall was nearly full with people, a group of skeletons randomly appeared at the end of the Hall opposite the staff table. Each of them held an instrument, though most looked like a very bizarre hybrid of some muggle instrument and another. They began to play a song that was apparently well-known among wizards, because many students began singing along.

This went on for nearly ten minutes before the chaos began. The pumpkin juice was apparently laced with some odd trick potion or another, because anybody who drank it soon began braying like a donkey. A load of fireworks appeared out of thin air, dropping onto the tables and causing several students to shriek as they exploded in brightly colored showers of sparks. Several dozen abnormally large spiders scuttled out of the pumpkins all around the hall, and almost all of the younger students (this, of course, did not include Jack. Nope) began screaming hysterically. The heads of the skeletons popped off and rolled around the hall, teeth clattering (the skeletons continued dancing and playing their songs as if this wasn't a problem at all). A huge tub of slimy green goop appeared the air, flipping and drenching several unfortunate Slytherins, including Jack.

A translucent little man appeared in the air, an evil grin pasted across his ghostly face. He cackled loudly, "Ooh, now the snakes are truly wearing their colors! Loud and proud! Ha ha ha ha!"

"Peeves!" Shrieked a Ravenclaw prefect. "I knew it! I knew he shouldn't be allowed! I told them this would happen!" Peeves just cackled, rolling in the air and popping out of existence. He appeared in front of a young Hufflepuff with a loud BOO!, making the poor kid shriek in surprise.

As the ghost(?) continued his chaotic antics, Jack turned to his friends who had somehow managed to escape the sticky barrage of Slytherin pride. "This- is- disgusting!" He sputtered.

Hiccup laughed at him. "Oh come on, Jack! You're wearing our house colors! Have a little pride!"

Jack glared at him as the goop slowly dripped down his face. His white hair would probably have a green tinge for weeks. He flicked his hands at Hiccup, causing some of the slime to spatter on to his freckled face. "There, now we're both proud Slytherin snakes. Sticky ones."

Hiccup snorted, wiping the slime of with his sleeve. Jack hoped hoped it would stain. "Go take a shower, Jack. I doubt you'll be able to enjoy the feast like that anyway."

Jack grunted, stomping away toward the doors. By now, Peeves had been caught and thrown out, but the chaos was still struggling to be dealt with.

The door fell shut behind him as Jack skulked into the Entrance Hall. It was startlingly quiet after the loudness of the Great Hall, though Jack could still hear the dull chaotic roar from the scene inside.

Jack shook his head like a dog in an attempt to get rid of some of the gooey stuff. Then a very large snake dropped down in front of him. He didn't scream. No, not Jack.

"Ah!" He yelped, "Go away!" Surprisingly, the snake didn't bother him, but instead slithered over to the Great Hall, grabbing the handle in its jaws and Dragging the door open before slipping inside. Huh. Jack didn't know they made snakes that smart.

"Ooh, how interesting!" Jack looked up to see Peeves floating overhead, legs crossed.

"Go away, Peeves!" Jack grumbled. "Because of you, I've got to take a shower and miss the rest of the feast!"

Peeves pouted. "You've got six more years left at this place. If you don't get kicked out. The Halloween Feast isn't even exciting."

"Yeah?" Jack scowled. "Well it's the only exciting thing that's happened all year, aside from Flying lessons."

"Hmm," Peeves floated closer to Jack, eyeing him closely. "You seem like the type of person who likes secrets. Do you like secrets?" He turned upside down so that his face was almost exactly in front of Jack's.

"Uh-"

"Oh, I can tell you do. Peevesies likes secrets, too. Peevesies knows very many secrets, oh yes. Peevesies can tell you all sorts of things about this old castle, especially a snake like you. Do you want a secret?" Peeves didn't wait for Jack to answer. "I can give you secrets if you help me with things."

Jack's eyes narrowed. "What sort of things?"

Peeves grinned evilly. "Ooh hoo hoo, what fun Peeves is going to have..."

A/N: Ha ha, that was meant to be more obvious. Oh well. Did you figure it out? Hehehe.

And so it was that Merida DunBroch decided not to openly hate the Slytherin trio.

Did someone say character development?!

Also: I'm posting this off AO3 and trying to decide if I should put them in separate books on here or just all in one, so it's easier to find. What do you guys think?