AN: I do not own Harry Potter

Harry smirked knowing she would never figure it out. He put on his best innocent face. Hermione shook with silent laughter beside him desperately trying not to draw attention to her. Strange things tended to happen around her and she had no intention of being blamed for this one.

"Mrs. Buttersnupp? Are you alright?" Harry asked feigning concern.

"Who is responsible for this?" She ignored Harry's false concern and addressed the class holding up the whoopie cushion in question. Harry kept a neutral face as the rest of the class denied association with the offending article.

"Hermione?" Mrs. Buttersnupp had noticed that the girl was being unusually quiet.

"She couldn't have done it ma'am, she was beside me the entire time," Harry took up for her quickly. "Maybe it was somebody closer to your desk."

Mrs. Buttersnupp turned to address the boys sitting closest to her desk; she was unable to argue with his logic. When she turned away Hermione turned and mouthed 'thanks'.

Harry smiled and mouthed back: 'no problem.'

If anyone bothered to look at the little house in London they would see nothing seemingly out of place. The young mother had decorated for Halloween and placed several jack-o-lanterns on the steps leading to the door. Many people even applauded her for her ability to change the pumpkins every day, for without fail each morning a different gruesome face stared out at the street. Only the little girl who lived down the street thought to point out that they changed during the day to when nobody was around.

In the kitchen Lily was desperately trying to get Holly to eat her breakfast when Harry entered and tiredly sat down at the table. She had her suspicions; he had gone to bed last night, but it was likely that he was working on his Halloween costume: he had been plotting with Hermione for weeks. Harry smiled at his sister which gave Lily the perfect opportunity to slip a piece of toast into the little girl's mouth.

"Morning," Sirius greeted them groggily, and reached for the coffee.

Lily smiled at Sirius and stood up walking over to Sirius at the counter.

"You're taking Harry to the party tonight?" Holly was finally eating her toast.

"Of course," Sirius smirked he was far less groggy now that he had downed half a cup of coffee. Lily saw the smirk, and thought of the pumpkins currently gracing the porch remembering that they had been his handiwork.

"You could take Holly as well," Lily looked back at the table. "I'm sure she would enjoy it a lot more than trick or treating; I hear they have a haunted house." Lily knew that Holly had heard when she turned and gave Sirius the puppy dog eyes.

"Pwease! Pwease! Pwease!" Holly cried. "I wanna go to the party." Sirius put on a serious face, and pretended to consider it.

"Well I suppose that would be alright," he agreed. He was going to suggest that he take her anyway, knowing how hard the night would be for Lily.

"But Mum, Padfoot I don't want Holly there. 'Mione and I have plans and she'll ruin them."

"Do not talk about your sister that way Harry, Sirius will be there and you will all have fun," Lily gave him the look.

"Yeah Harry we'll have lots of fun tonight," Sirius winked.

"You better not ruin it," Harry glared at his sister.

"Harry go now before you ruin your chances of going tonight," Lily watched as he grabbed his bag and left for school; he had been distancing himself from Holly since he started classes.

"Mummy," Holly asked as the door slammed. "Can I go play now?"

"Finish your toast first," Lily said looking at her daughter's plate.

"Yes mummy," Holly sighed and turned back to her toast. Forcing it down she shoved back her plate and darted from the table.

Lily sat down and sighed watching her baby girl run from the room. She put her head down on the table barely holding in the tears, it had been five years and she still couldn't hold in the tears come Halloween. She didn't flinch when Sirius sat down beside her, she didn't move until he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"What am I going to do when they go off to Hogwarts?" Lily sighed laying her head on his shoulder.

"Grin and bear it?" Sirius joked half-heartedly. She sighed at the joke, and gently disentangled herself.

"I should go and check on Holly; make sure she's not upset."

Sirius nodded and watched her leave the kitchen. He remained at the table until he heard her take the stairs upwards to the kid's rooms.

"Holly, sweetie can I come in?" Lily knocked on the door gently.

"Ok," her voice was faint behind the door.

"What are you playing sweety?" Holly shrugged and lifted up the stuffed animal; a deer. Lily offered a small smile thinking of the deer, It was prongs, James had given it to Harry and it seems Holly now had it. Lily took a seat on Holly's bed.

"Come sit with me." Holly nodded and walked over hugging prongs to her chest.

She pulled her daughter on to her lap and smiled softly. "Your brother did not mean what he said. He just wants the kids at school to think he is cool. He loves you very much."

"Why?"

"His friends think it's not cool to hang out with his little sister. They would tell him that so he goes along with it."

"I thought 'Mione liked me though..."

"Mione does but the boys he hangs out with think it's weird to hang out with little girls. He is probably trying to impress them, so when you see him make sure you give him a big hug at his school. Also we need to talk about what your costume will be." Lily smirked knowing that their would be no better punishment for Harry's earlier actions.

"I wanna be a witch," Holly declared with a grin.

"Well you were a witch last year sweetie why not try something different." Lily frowned slightly

"hmm," Holly gazed around the room until her eyes fell on a small pile of toys in the corner. She hopped off of her mother's lap and picked one up: it was a stuffed cupcake.

"You want to go as a cupcake?" Holly nodded. Lily smiled and waved her wand transfiguring the toy into a cute pink cupcake costume, "How about this?"

"Perfect."

"Now let's go and convince Sirius to wearing a matching costume," Lily grinned."You