As promised, the Halloween chapter! :D This is one of BondSlave's and my all-time FAVORITE chapters. We've re-read this chapter countless times, and it's our favorite to read to family and friends. It's one of the longer chapters of the story, and we hope you enjoy it. ^.^ (Sorry it's a little late for Halloween, though, heh. I'll try and get the Christmas chapters more on-time, I promise.)
Oh, and Alisha and I put a couple other Black Butler references in this chapter. But, don't worry, they're not so obscure, heh.
Happy reading!
-V. Halloween-
In which the spooks come out to play.
It was no secret that there were a number of ghosts wandering the grounds of Hogwarts. The students weren't afraid of them (per se), and would often have conversations with them in the Great Hall or the library or any number of places. Floating among the ranks of the ghosts were such greats as Sir Nicholas (a.k.a. Nearly-Headless Nick, the Gryffindor house ghost), Helena Ravenclaw (a.k.a. The Grey Lady, daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw—the Ravenclaw house ghost, obviously), the Bloody Baron (the Slytherin house ghost), the Fat Friar (the Hufflepuff house ghost), and many others.
Despite the fact that the majority of these ghosts were amiable and weren't usually ones for tricks...there were some magical creatures around Hogwarts that just couldn't help themselves. One such creature was Peeves, the school's resident poltergeist. He was probably the only being who could best the Marauders at pranks, because he wasn't bound by any rules or feared threats of expulsion. Especially at that certain time of year. Yes...Halloween. Peeves always went especially crazy, setting spiders to chase after first-year girls and egging professors whenever he got the chance. There was also talk that he'd messed with some of the potion ingredients in the storeroom, causing several students' concotions to burst into flames.
Usually, Kelsey would get annoyed at Peeves' hijinks and insist that Alisha talk the Bloody Baron about his behavior. (The Bloody Baron was the only one—other than Dumbledore—that Peeves listened to, you see.) But that year, a little over a week before Halloween, she was just in that mood where not even Peeves could really annoy her. No, she wasn't overjoyed about anything. She was just feeling...blah. (But her fuse had greatly shortened as well.) Anyone who looked at her streak might've been able to guess. Well...actually, no. Alisha was probably the only one able to decipher the color—actually, colors—in the Ravenclaw girl's hair.
She was going down the hall with Alisha when she numbly ducked to avoid another one of Peeves' rotten egg bombs. "Buzz off, you pest," she muttered to the poltergeist.
"Ooh!" Peeves cried mockingly. "Little Eddie's all upset!" he chanted. "Little Eddie's gonna flip her lid!"
"She probably will," Alisha warned. "Why don't you go rearrange Slughorn's files?"
Peeves thought about that for a moment. "Good idea, Spinners!" He cackled maniacally and flew off to the potions classroom.
Alisha looked at her friend. "Are you sure you're alright? You look awful."
Kelsey ran a tired hand through her hair. "I'm fine. Or...at least, I will be by Halloween."
Alisha laughed softly. "Funny."
"What is?" Kelsey asked, finding no humor at all in her current mood.
Alisha grinned. "That yours and Remus' weeks usually come right around the same time."
Kelsey rolled her eyes. "Ha-ha. At least we can understand each other's pain."
Alisha cocked an eyebrow at her.
"Eheh... So to speak," Kelsey corrected nervously.
Alisha laughed a little, and looked up when footsteps approached them. Oh, great. It was James and Sirius. Just what Kelsey needed.
"Hey, Ed...wards," James said, ending hesitantly as they looked at Kelsey.
"Whoa!" Sirius exclaimed. "Edwards! Your hair's a rainbow!"
Yes, her streak was currently a myriad of colors. Not flickering, mind you. All the colors were just there in her hair at the same time. Unfortunately, it was not an uncommon occurrence.
"Yep," Kelsey replied in a monotone voice as they all continued walking forward.
"Wait," James said, thinking. "This has happened before, right? ...Like, almost every month."
"Yep," Kelsey said again.
"I've always wondered why..." James continued.
Kelsey shot him a look. "Would you rather it be red? 'Cause I could make that happen. And then I could kick your sorry butt."
"No, thank you," James said, actually afraid of her tone.
"But...why is it a rainbow?" Sirius asked.
Alisha wanted to facepalm. How thick could even they be?
"I mean, if one color means one emotion, what does all of them mean?"
Obviously, very thick.
The tips of Kelsey's ears started to turn red, and the red slowy started to seep down her streak.
Alisha sighed heavily. "Guys! This is most definitely not the time to be getting her angry! She's at her most volatile in this..."
Kelsey shot her a look, as if challenging her on how to properly finish that statement.
"...in this state," Alisha finished. She looked back at Sirius and James. "Anyway, don't make her angry! This is not the time, unless you've got a death wish. Now is the time to be very nice to her and to give her—"
"Chocolate."
They looked up to see Remus holding a chocolate bar out to Kelsey. The amber and blue in Kelsey's hair grew darker and she took the chocolate bar and gave Remus a nod of thank you. He smiled in understanding, then continued on his way.
James and Sirius looked after him, brows furrowed in confusion. Alisha smiled and shook her head. Sirius may have been the player of the group, but it seemed that Remus was the one who really had women figured out. (Or, at the very least, one aspect of them.) James and Sirius must've recognized Remus' higher knowledge, because they turned and jogged off to catch up with him.
Alisha turned back to Kelsey, who was opening up the chocolate bar and looking at it like she'd just discovered the meaning of life. "Noms?" she asked.
Alisha laughed as Kelsey took a bite of the chocolate. She grinned. "He liiiikes you," she sang, poking Kelsey in the shoulder.
Kelsey started. "Hmm?" she asked through a mouthful of chocolate. She swallowed and gave Alisha a look. "He does not." She took another bite. "I mean," she said, chewing, "not like that."
"Mm-mm!" Alisha argued, shaking her head. "He doesn't share his chocolate with anyone!" She grinned widely. "He liiiikes you!"
Kelsey blushed, eating more of the chocolate so she wouldn't have to answer her friend's teasing. Of course Remus liked her—they were friends! Naturally, she was sure that Alisha meant a whole different level of "like" than "just friends." So he'd shared chocolate with her—big deal.
That was what she was showing on the outside. On the inside, though...she was secretly incredibly happy.
Alisha smiled. "I'm just glad you'll be feeling better by Halloween. Wouldn't want to miss the party, now would you?"
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Kelsey said, swallowing another bite. "You've got your costume?"
"Yep! What about you?"
"Naturally," Kelsey said with a smile.
Alisha bounced up and down slightly as they walked. "I'm so excited! Halloween has got to be one of the best times of year!"
They stopped when a first-year Hufflepuff boy came running out of a classroom, being chased by a whole hoard of enchanted paper bats.
"If for no other reason than for that right there," Kelsey said.
The two girls laughed, and headed off down the hall to their next class.
Yes...there was certainly no time of year like Halloween. Especially at Hogwarts.
;;;;;
Remus walked out of Potions class, holding a slip of paper and looking relatively shell-shocked. It was lunchtime and while everyone filed passed him, he stumbled along the wall, his appetite forgotten. He leaned against the wall outside of the Great Hall, feeling numb from the brain down.
Kelsey, who had left Potions at the same time but taken a detour to the restroom, paused when she spotted him. She frowned and approached him. "Remus? You okay? You look like you're going to be sick." The concern in her voice was painfully obvious. It was only three days after the full moon, so he may have been a little worse for wear, but he usually looked better.
He looked at her dazedly. "Umm. I don't know," he said handing her the piece of paper.
Kelsey looked over the paper, her own eyes widening in mild shock. "Remedial potions? Remus, you're failing Potions?"
"I don't know what happened!" he said before groaning and rubbing his eyes with the heels of his palms. "I've been doing all of the work. I don't know how I got behind," he said with a sad expression. "I've never been that good with the subject but I never thought I'd fail!"
"Who's Professor Slughorn having instruct you?"
At that moment, Severus walked by them, pausing just outside the door and glancing between them. "Edwards," he said with a nod before looking to Remus. "I expect you at 7:30. Don't be late. I have better things to do than teach you—" He trailed off as he entered the Great Hall, his voice being drowned out by the loud chatter of the other students.
Kelsey, eyes wide, looked at Remus, who looked rather horrified. "Severus?" she hissed at him.
Remus shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "He's the best one there is! Kelsey, I'm scared," he said truthfully. "Snape hates me! How do I know he's not going to do horrible things to me?"
Kelsey sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. This was so not something she'd wanted to deal with this week. She put up a hand before gripping Remus's upper arm—which she noted was rather firm. "Look. I doubt Severus would pull anything. He doesn't want to get in trouble, and I'm sure he's getting something out of this too. Whether it be extra pocket money or house points or something. And besides, if he did try anything, I'm sure Sirius, James, and Peter would fight to protect your honor."
Remus groaned down at her. "You make it sound like I'm a damsel in distress."
Kelsey grinned before turning and heading into Great Hall.
;;
Alisha sat with Severus, butterflies fluttering around in her stomach as they ate their lunch. She glanced over at him a few times before clearing her throat, successfully getting his attention. She shifted in her seat slightly to face him a little more.
"So, umm...there's a party this weekend, a costume party…since it's well…ummm." Her cheeks began to burn as her ears turned red. She'd planned out what she was going to say, but she was tripping over her words. Panic began to rise in her chest.
Severus was leaning his head on his hand as he nibbled on his sandwich, looking at her dully.
"It's a costume party…and well, umm, I was wondering if you'd…maybe like to go with me." She blinked and shook her head. "NO! That's not what I meant. No, not with me with me, like…if you'd like to attend the party with me…as well, umm…." She shifted back to face away from him, face burning.
Severus sat up straight, facing his food again. "You mean as your plus one? In other words, you being my ticket into a party I would otherwise not be invited to."
Alisha's ears burned even more.
Severus nibbled on his sandwich a bit more before tossing it down on his plate and grabbing his school bag.
Alisha looked up at him as he stood up and slung the bag over his shoulder.
"Sure," he stated before walking off, leaving Alisha dumbfounded at the Slytherin table.
;;;;;
Remus spent the rest of us his evenings leading up to Halloween studying potions with Severus. It was trying for both of them, as Severus really had no interest in teaching the Gryffindor, and as Remus' latest claw-marks (among other things) were keeping him from focusing. Severus had actually resorted to whacking him in the back of the head with a notebook to get him to pay better attention, but even that only worked for so long.
Severus was again asking him what the difference between monkshood and aconite was (there was none), but all Remus knew was that he was tired and frustrated, still wondering how on earth he'd managed to fail potions. The study sessions with Severus were (almost) enough to make him wish that the full moon would come twice that month.
The night before Halloween, around eleven o'clock, Severus finally shooed Remus away, telling him to go get some sleep, grateful that he could now get some rest as well. Remus jumped up from the table and grabbed his things, not even trying to hide how eager he was to leave.
He tiredly shuffled down the hall towards the staircase that would take him to the Gryffindor common room, yawning and running a hand through his hair. He was just glad that the next day was Halloween, and he wouldn't have to worry about these sessions with Severus for the weekend.
He paused in the hallway when he heard a soft voice singing. He shook his head, his bangs falling in his eyes. He told himself that he was hearing things. He continued on. Then he stopped again when the singing became more distinct. He tried to convince himself that it was just a ghost wandering the halls and nothing more. But...there was something familiar about the voice.
Remus turned the corner into the hallway that would take him to the staircases and froze in midstep, looking up.
What he saw—or rather who he saw—was Kelsey hopping and spinning her way up the steps, headed to her own common room, no doubt. It almost looked like she was playing some odd sort of hopscotch up the stairs. The light of the waning moon streamed in the windows, glinting off her midnight blue streak. She sang as she hopped about, her clear, bell-like voice echoing off the walls and back to her. She wasn't really singing anything in particular—just a random melody she'd thought up.
Remus smiled to himself, laughing softly as he watched her. He wondered what she was doing out of bed and wandering the halls so late at night, but then realized that it didn't much matter, did it?
He quietly ascended the stairs, still smiling at her. She was completely oblivious to his presence, spinning happily on as if she really were a carefree ghost of the school. He stopped on a landing as she veered off on the flight of stairs that led to the Ravenclaw common room. Her voice became quieter as she moved away from him, still echoing softly off the walls.
Remus chuckled to himself and shook his head, going up the stairs to his own common room. He was surprised to find James, Sirius, and Peter still awake.
"There you are," James said.
"Finally," Sirius chimed in. "We thought Snape had gone and left you out in the Dark Forest or something."
They looked at him for a few moments, taking in the small smile on his face and the glint of happiness in his eyes.
"You alright, mate?" Peter asked.
"Just fine," Remus replied.
They nodded slowly. "Good then," Sirius said. "You all set for Halloween tomorrow?"
"Naturally." Remus headed towards the boys' dorm room. "I'm going to bed. Night."
"Night," the other three replied hesitantly, unsure as to how to react to his suspiciously cheerful mood.
Remus set his bag on the floor and his robe on the back of his desk chair, then flopped down on his bed, the springs squeaking weakly under him. He exhaled, smiling, not completely sure why he was so happy. He laid there for a few moments, then stood up and got undressed.
He crawled back under the cool sheets, laying on his side and sighing. His gaze drifted toward the moon outside, then down to the scars on his hand in front of him. He sighed and rolled onto his other side, squeezing his eyes shut tightly.
He half-wished that he had dreamt all that he'd just seen. But he knew that was silly. Of course he'd seen it. But he'd been the only one. He tugged the sheets tighter around him. He would keep it to himself—a beautiful little memory tucked away in his mind, where he could recall it on the days when he felt so miserable, and he trusted that it would help to make things more bearable.
He closed his eyes tighter, trying to impress the image of that colorful girl dancing around on the steps of the school as if no one was watching more permanently to his mind. He didn't want to forget a single turn of her steps, a single note of her voice, or a single second of her smile.
If he could just remember these things, if only these things...then he knew he could make it. He knew he could gain strength from her, and continue walking forward.
;;;;;
Many of the students attended their classes in costume. Even some of the teachers got at least a little festive. Alisha skipped down the corridor, her brown-heeled shoes clapping loudly against the stone floor. In a swirl of red and brown she entered the Potions classroom and claimed a seat beside her oddly uncostumed Ravenclaw friend. With a swirl of her long red coat with the showy black bow, she claimed her seat and gazed blankly over red-rimmed glasses with dangling skulls at her friend.
"Kelsey," she said quite seriously. "Where's your costume?"
Kelsey, who'd been slumped over her desk sat up quickly, looking down-trodden. "I haven't figured out what I'm going to be!"
Alisha frowned. "Wait. I thought you said you had."
"Yeah, I lied."
Silence descended between the two, but was quickly broken by a slight gasp of surprise as Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter filed into the room and gaped at the Slytherin girl.
"Wow, Spinners! Never thought I'd see the day when you were in red!" James said as he took in her appearance.
"Yeah, what the bloody hell are you?" Sirius asked as he tugged on her hair, which she had charmed to lengthen and turn a deep shade of red.
Alisha slapped at the boy's hand and huffed. "I'm a shinigami."
The four boys merely looked at her with absolutely no spark of understanding in their eyes.
Alisha sighed. "Never mind," she mumbled. She'd known no one would know what, let alone who, she was. The costume was really only for her own enjoyment. But that didn't make it any less sad.
"She's Grell Sutcliff, right?"
All of the Marauders turned to look over at Severus, who was dressed as he usually was and sitting at a desk kitty-corner to the girls' own.
"The transvestite shinigami, no?" he asked, looking at her with a blank expression.
Alisha blinked, completely shocked. Kelsey gaped as well.
Alisha nodded. "How'd you..."
"You were raving about it a few months ago, remember? Well, I did some research."
"Wait, wait, wait," James said, holding up his hands and looking at Alisha with an odd look on his face. "So...you're supposed to be a
transvestite shinimahoozit?"
"Shinigami. It is Japanese for God of Death, a.k.a. a Grim Reaper, you nitwit," Severus snapped, causing both Sirius and James to shoot him evil glares.
Remus looked to Alisha and smiled. "So who is the Grell Sutcliff? I mean, what is he from?"
"How'd you know it was a guy?" Kelsey asked. In her experience, most everyone had thought that Grell was a woman upon first hearing about him.
"With a name like that, I assumed that it was a male who wished to be female."
Alisha beamed, so very proud of Remus for being so perceptive. She was also completely and utterly thrilled that Severus had done some research on the subject. "He's from a show called Kuroshitsuji, which translates to Black Butler. It's a muggle cartoon from Japan that I watch when at home. He's my favorite character."
Conversation quickly ended due to the fact that Professor Slughorn had entered the room and the class was about to begin. Alisha grinned, not minding the odd looks she got as she flashed shark-like teeth. She was happy. Happy that Remus seemed approving of her costume choice and that Severus had actually looked into her obsession. He'd always been polite enough to listen to her prattlings, or at least to pretend to be listening. But the fact that he knew what she was talking about proved that he'd retained something she'd said, and that meant the world to her.
;;;;;
Kelsey hardly paid attention at all in class the whole day. Instead, her eyes wandered about the room, looking at the other costumes and trying desperately to get ideas. She sat and mulled over movies and TV shows and— In the middle of her last class of the day, an idea hit her. One that she realized was actually quite obvious. She wondered at how she hadn't thought of it before.
She bounced her right leg impatiently, waiting for class to be dismissed so she could go back to her room and get ready, now that she finally had an idea.
A half-hour later, she jumped up from her seat, grabbed her things, and was the first one out in the hallway. She sped up the many flights of stairs and into the common room. She rushed to her room and threw open her trunk, nearly diving in headfirst as she searched for the clothes she needed and that she knew she'd brought. Once she had them, she went into the bathroom and closed the door.
Halloween costumes became immensely easier to produce when you had a wand. They were even easier when you were a metamorphmagus. For example, all Kelsey had to do was close her eyes and picture herself the way she wanted to look. With a slightly pained look, her skin turned deathly white. Her hair then turned a burnt fiery orange (save for her streak, which she knew no amount of magic she possessed at that time could hide), and she changed her eyes to an emerald green. She then changed into a black lace skirt that hit just above her knees, and put on a blue and purple peacock-feather designed tank top. Over that, she wore a black short-sleeved bodice jacket with ruffles around the neck. On her feet, she tied black combat boots, and, on her head, she donned a large top-hat covered in mismatched patches and a big card that read "10/6". She applied some bright blue and wine-colored eyeshadow and black mascara around her eyes, slipped on a pair of black lace gloves, and her look was complete.
She went and put her school clothes back on her bed, then tucked her wand into her jacket and set off to go find her shinigami friend. She found her chasing some first-years up and down a corridor, wielding a (fake) chainsaw as the Marauders watched.
"I'm going to reap your souuulls!" she cried, causing the first-years to scream. The others weren't sure if they were screaming out of ghoulish glee, or if they were actually afraid of the girl.
Kelsey went to stand by the Marauders, looking at Alisha curiously. "How long's she been at this?" she asked.
Sirius blinked at her. "I'm sorry. Who might you be?"
Kelsey narrowed her eyes at him. "Ha-ha. You're hilarious, Sirius."
"No, really."
James rolled his eyes and smacked Sirius in the back of the head. "Idiot, it's Edwards. Can't you recognize her voice?"
"Well, the hair and the eyes and the skin got me all confused!" Sirius claimed.
Kelsey rolled her eyes.
"So what're you supposed to be?" Sirius asked.
Kelsey gaped at him. "What? You're kidding, right?"
"Unforunately, he never kids about this sort of thing," Remus offered. He smiled at her. "You're the Mad Hatter, right?"
Kelsey smiled widely and tipped her top-hat. "Indeed I am, good sir. My interpretation of him, anyway. Er...her, I guess, since I'm wearing a skirt." She smiled at him. "You're on a roll today with guessing the characters, I must say."
Remus smiled, laughing softly. He looked over at Alisha. "Um...just what exactly is Alisha doing?"
Kelsey put a hand on her hip. "Trying to reap those poor kids' souls. See, that's what a shinigami does. They reap the souls of the people on the 'to-die' list and transport them onto the next life."
"With a chainsaw?" Sirius asked, sounding mildly afraid.
"No, that's just what Grell uses as a death scythe."
"Shouldn't we stop her, then?" Remus asked.
"No, no!" James said quickly, grinning. "She's finally doing something crazy and...acting somewhat hyper. This is the kind of thing she only does around Edwards!" He grinned at the rest of the group. "Let's just...revel in this moment for a bit."
"So this is...normal?" Sirius asked Kelsey, his tone unchanged.
Kelsey sighed. "Yeah. Last year, she tried to reap my mother's soul."
"I must reap the soooouuullls!"
"...I think we should take the chainsaw away from her," Remus said.
"Before the party, definitely," Kelsey agreed. "No one will be safe if she gets some punch in her and still has that in her hand."
James suddenly grinned, as if something about what Kelsey had said was especially amusing.
"What's that look for?" Kelsey asked.
"Oh, nothing," James said with a smile. "Nothing at all."
Kelsey just shook her head and looked at Alisha again. So another Halloween has begun... I just hope Alisha doesn't actually reap any souls this year. Otherwise, I won't be the only one who's gone mad around here.
;;;;;
After classes, all of the students who had not dressed up returned to their dorm rooms with their friends to choose and change into costumes. Hogwarts would become a full-on freak fest—something that the students (or most of them) enjoyed fully. Alisha, now chainsawless, followed Kelsey along the second floor corridor, the staircases having moved and stranded them there till they could find an alternate route to get up to the seventh floor and wait outside of the Gryffindor common room.
"This Halloween is going to be so much fun!" Alisha cheered, clapping her gloved hands. "I can't wait. This is the first party we've been invited to. I'm so pleased that Nearly-Headless Nick said we could come! Such a kind ghost!" Alisha cheered.
Kelsey nodded in agreement. "Doesn't he throw this party every year?"
"Yep. He tries every year to impress the ghost involved in the Headless Hunt, in hopes of eventually being accepted."
"Ah, yes. Poor Nick. He's such an outcast."
"Oh, I know!"
The girls laughed and giggled as they rounded the corner and located the secret passage that would take them to the fifth floor where they could catch the staircase that would take them up to the seventh floor. Getting around Hogwarts looked to be rather difficult from an outsider's point of view.
The Marauders hadn't even made it into their common room before a fight broke out amongst them. Leave it to Sirius and James to come up with an idea that was fully supported by Peter and absolutely not supported by Remus. By the time the girls arrived, the boys were shouting at each other, trying to be heard over each other.
Kelsey ran up and forced herself between Remus and Sirius, who were in each others' faces. James had been off to the side yelling at them both, and Peter stood by with wide eyes.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, HEY!" Kelsey yelled. "What the bloody flapdoodle is going on here? !"
"Sirius is being an insensative ass!" Remus snapped, pointing an accusing finger at Sirius, who lifted his hands in self-defense and shook his head.
"I didn't ask anything unreasonable! It isn't like anyone would get it but us! And, hey, I thought it was an interesting idea!"
"It's bloody ridiculous!"
"HEY!" Kelsey yelled to keep them from breaking out into a yelling match again. When the situation called for it, she could put quite a bit of power behind her voice, not to mention give herself a seemingly larger precense with just a look—enough to get even the Marauders to shut up and listen. She looked at Remus, who instantly fell silent, before turning to look up at Sirius. She crossed her arms. "Okay, so what was your idea?"
"Well, I thought it would be cool if we all dressed up as iconic characters from muggle fairy tales, and I thought Remus here should be..."
"He wanted me to be the Big Bad Wolf." Remus deadpanned, obviously unhappy about the prospect.
Kelsey gaped up at the pureblood boy. "You did what? ! That is a horrible idea!"
Alisha, who had been standing calmly by, waltzed over and wrapped an arm around Sirius' shoulders. "I don't know."
"What? !" Kelsey and Remus asked in shock as they gazed at her.
"I think it's actually a pretty good idea. I think Remus would look adorable dressed-up in well-fitted smoky black pants, a black shirt with a dark gray vest and fluffy wolf ears poking out of his hair, as well as a fluffy wolf tail enchanted onto the back of his pants," she said before shrugging. "Of course, I also could be anime-deprived and really only wanting to see an animal boy or something."
Kelsey facepalmed and shook her head.
;;
Severus sat on the leather sofa going over his notes, tapping his finger against the corner to a beat that was obviously only in his head.
Lucius, accompanied by two of the infamous Black sisters, approached him. "Are you really going to go to this party, Severus?" Lucius asked in an exasperated sigh as he leaned against the arm of the sofa.
"Yes."
"But you'll be around all of those Gryffindors!" the blonde Black sister said in surprise.
"Uh-huh."
"You would spend time with those filthy half-bloods? !"
Severus glanced back at the black-haired, wild-eyed Black sister. "Go soak your head, Bella," he said simply.
Lucius did his best not to chuckle as the girl's face turned bright red with rage. He slipped his hands onto the younger man's shoulders and squeezed in good humor. "Now, now, Bella, you musn't forget that our dear Severus here is a half-blood. Not all half-bloods are filthy and disgusting. Severus has proven that."
Severus rolled his eyes. "I am going because I have been invited, and it gives me an excuse to get out of the dorms for a night," he stated simply as he abruptly stood and strode towards the portrait hole.
"Are you dressing up?" Lucius questioned.
"I don't know," was all the reply he got before the younger man was gone.
;;;;;
"This is ridiculous," Remus grumbled.
Kelsey scrunched her mouth up to one side and looked at him apologetically. "Hey...at least it's not as...odd as Alisha's suggestion."
Remus rolled his eyes up towards the wolf ears peeking out from his messy hair and sighed. "The pun is just... It's painful."
"But...well...there's only a few students in the school who would even know it's a pun," Kelsey pointed out.
"Still..." he said. "I get the feeling Alisha's enjoying this more than she should be."
Alisha giggled from her place behing them, looking at Remus' tail with glee.
Kelsey shook her head. "Just ignore her. At any rate, it's just a costume, and it's just for one night." She smiled and rested a hand on his upper arm. "You'll survive."
He scoffed. "Yeah, sure."
Kelsey whacked him on the arm. "Cheer up! Don't be such a fuddy-duddy," she said. She smirked, her changed bright green eyes sparking impishly. "Besides, I bet some of the Gryffindor girls will really like it."
"Oh, come off it—" He cut himself off and shifted his gaze away, blushing a little. He mumbled some nonsense that Kelsey couldn't understand, and she just shrugged and looked ahead as they continued walking.
Alisha, indeed, was enjoying Remus' costume far too much. She really must've been anime-deprived or something. Or maybe she was just enjoying the fact that some of her suggestions had been taken into consideration. (Not all, mind you, but some.) James and Sirius were probably just happy that there hadn't needed to be anymore arguing on the subject. It was settled, it was over, and they all had their costumes. End of story.
Well...at least, until we got to the party and Alisha saw Severus. She put her hands on her hips, looking him up and down. "Just what sort of costume is that?"
He was dressed in long black robes, black shoes, black pants, black dress shirt...sort of like his everyday clothes.
"I'm a Potions master," he stated matter-of-factly.
Kelsey facepalmed. Only Severus...
Alisha gaped at him. "That's it?"
"Yes."
She sighed. "You'll be the only one without a flashy costume!"
"I didn't want to draw attention to myself," he said, as if this explained everything. (And it sort of did.)
But Alisha would not be satisfied. "That's the whole point of Halloween, Severus!"
Severus just blinked at her, clearly through with this "tedious" conversation.
Kelsey shook her head. She'd known that Halloween would be a little mad, as it always was, but it seemed things were getting a little...shakier than usual that year. Kelsey put her hands up and shook her head again. "I'm getting some pumpkin juice." And she shuffled off through the mass of people to find the refreshment table.
If only James had heard her say this statement. Then many some of the night's events—at least, the more embarrassing or worse ones—might have been avoided. Maybe.
;;;;;
Obscenely loud music echoed around the chamber as students and ghosts alike wafted around the room—some dancing, some eating, some doing other unspeakable things in corners. Sirius, who was loitering near the food table, picked up a piece of chicken and eyed it before turning to look at James, who was bobbing his head in beat with the music.
"Does this look fresh to you?" Sirius asked.
It took a moment for James to realize that he'd said anything at all. He leaned in. "What? !"
"I said—"
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" James yelled, pointing to his ear.
Sirius grabbed the other teen's face and leaned in so their noses were nearly touching. "I SAID, DOES THIS LOOK FRESH!"
"WHAT? !"
The taller boy rolled his eyes and waved a hand at the other before taking a bite of the chicken, James going back to his head-bobbing.
Alisha was dancing with a ghost, a blur of red every so often flashing past Severus Snape's line of vision. The Slytherin boy was leaning against a wall, drink in hand. If anyone were to stop and stare long enough, they would (no doubt) have thought that he was not having a good time. But that wouldn't be completely true. Snape was in fact having a rather enjoyable time. He wasn't the only Slytherin there and, so far, he hadn't had to converse with Black or Potter. He looked down at his drink before taking another swig.
He jerked slightly as Alisha was suddenly right in front of him. She was panting slightly, her red bangs plastered to her sweat-slickened face, wide grin adorning her features.
"Dance with me!"
His brow furrowed and he leaned in. "What?"
"DANCE WITH ME!"
"I...I CAN'T, I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" he yelled back in hopes of being heard over the loud music—music which caused vibrations against his ribcage.
The Slytherin girl rolled her eyes and grabbed onto his free hand before dragging him out into the middle of the dance floor. He, naturally, got the idea and, though awkward at first, did in fact begin dancing, drink still in hand.
Kelsey wandered over from where she'd been dancing with Remus, who had gotten over his costume embarrassment, and paused at the refreshment table. She was breathless and sweaty and, at some point, she had lost her hat. She grabbed the bone ladle and scooped a large amount of the blood-red punch into a hard plastic cup. She quickly downed it as Remus walked over to her and grabbed a handful of chips, munching on them while still bouncing to the music slighty. Kelsey nearly choked on her drink as she giggled at him.
He leaned in. "HAVING FUN?"
She nodded. "YES!" she replied, having to stand on her tip-toes slightly to reach his ear. She turned and scooped another large ladle-full of punch into her cup.
;;
An hour and several drinks later, Alisha, though slightly out-of-it, noticed that Snape couldn't stop giggling at her. She giggled back as they danced and leaned in. "ARE YOU OKAY?" she asked.
"WHAT? !" he asked before nearly toppling over.
She grabbed at his sleeve and dragged him to a far corner, the corner farthest from the music in order to attempt to communicate. "I SAID, ARE YOU OKAY?"
In response, Severus lost his balance and had to lean his whole body against the wall as he burst out into an uncontrollable fit of giggles, which in turn got Alisha giggling.
"YOU'RE DRUNK!" she accused as she laughed, covering her mouth with her hand slightly.
He giggled back. "I'M ON MY WAY!"
;;;;;
Kelsey swayed back and forth to the music, her eyes slightly glazed over and an inexplicably contented smile on her face.
Remus raised an eyebrow at her, wondering if she was alright. He shouted to ask this, but it took two or three tries before she could comprehend what he was asking.
"OHH!" she shouted back. "Don't worry! I'm perfectly—" Hiccup. "—fine, Sirius!"
Remus blinked at her. "I'm Remus!"
"Right, Sirius!" she slurred.
Remus put a hand on each of her shoulders, turning her to face him. "Kelsey! Are you okay? !"
She apparently found this hilarious, because a whole round of giggles starting bubbling up from her throat. She doubled over laughing, putting a free hand over her mouth.
Remus took the cup she was holding from her hand and sniffed at its contents. Then he took a sip, and spun around, searching for James. He spotted him dancing with a Gryffindor girl, and grabbed Kelsey's hand and started making his way over to James.
Kelsey willingly followed, nearly tripping over her feet many times as she marveled at the spooky decorations that adorned the ceiling—as if she'd never seen floating Jack O'Lanterns before.
Remus stopped behind his friend and shouted, "JAMES! WE GOTTA TALK!"
James started and turned around. "WHAT? !" he shouted back.
Remus grabbed James' shirtfront in his hand and pulled him closer. "WE NEED TO TALK!"
James got the message and followed Remus and Kelsey away and towards the door to the room. They ducked out into the hallway, ignoring the various couples trying to hide themselves around corners and down staircases.
"You mind explaining this?" Remus asked, pointing at Kelsey.
James blinked. "What's wrong with her?"
Remus looked at him, then pulled Kelsey forward to stand next to him. He pointed to James and asked her, "Who's this?"
She lolled her head over to look at James, then stumbled forward to get a better look. "Well," she said. "If I had to t-take a guess, I w-would say that it's Remus. In't he?"
Remus facepalmed. "No, I'm Remus," he said. He pointed at James again. "That's James."
She looked back and forth between them for a moment, looking thoroughly confused. She shrugged and stumbled away, dancing dazedly to the music thumping inside.
James groaned. "Oh, fantastic. She's totally wasted."
"No, you think? Was it her rainbow streak that told you that?" Remus replied dryly. "I'm guessing you had something to do with this?"
At that moment, Alisha came out of the room, dragging Severus along behind her. Sirius jogged out after her. Alisha shot James a look. "I believe you have some explaining to do."
"Whoa, what's up with Edwards?" Sirius asked.
"For a start, she's got us all mixed up," James said. "I'm Remus, and Remus is you."
Sirius thought about that for a moment. "So I'm you, James?"
"Never mind that!" Remus snapped.
James sighed. "Okay, fine, yeah. Sirius and I thought we'd get a good laugh seeing some of the Hufflepuffs get sloshed, so...we spiked the punch." He said it like it was nothing—as if it were perfectly normal to put alcohol into fruit punch at a Halloween party at school.
Remus sighed heavily. "Naturally..."
"We didn't think Snape or Edwards would drink enough to get so..." James winced, looking at the two giggling like no tomorrow. "...out-of-it."
"'Drink enough'?" Remus repeated. "Kelsey only had, like, two!"
"What?" Alisha put her hands on her hips and looked at James and Sirius. "Just how much alcohol did you idiots put in the punch? !"
Remus thought for a moment as James and Sirius scrambled for an answer to Alisha's question. "Well...no, when you think about it, Kelsey's pretty small. It probably wouldn't take a whole lot of alcohol to get her to this state. The same could apply to Snape, I suppose..." He shook his head furiously. "What am I saying? ! We've gotta get them back to their dorms before—"
"Where'd they go?" Alisha suddenly asked.
The four spun around, searching for their inebriated friends. It was then that they noticed the door that lead back into the party was open once again.
"Bloody hell..." It was all Sirius could get out before they all rushed back into the room.
"Spread out!" James shouted over the music. They did as he said, fanning out through the room to find Kelsey and Severus. Calling their names was no good. Even if the music had been quieter, it was likely they wouldn't have noticed their names being called, especially in the state they were in.
Alisha spotted Kelsey's bright orange hair, and shoved her way towards her. Kelsey was standing with a Hufflepuff girl and a Gryffindor girl, stuttering out something. Just as Alisha got there, she heard Kelsey shout, "No, no, let me finish! Did you guys know—" Hiccup. "—that Remus— You know Remus, right? O-Of course y-you do." She swallowed. "Remus...is a werewolf!"
Alisha's eyes widened and she leapt forward, slapping a hand over Kelsey's mouth. "FOR HALLOWEEN!" she shouted quickly. She laughed nervously. "It's his costume! The Big Bad Wolf—get it?" She laughed again. "How perceptive you are, Kelsey!" She started pulling her away.
"I wasn't done talking!" Kelsey insisted.
"Yes, you are!" Alisha said. "Say goodnight!"
Remus appeared in front of them, Kelsey's hat in his hand. "You got her?" he shouted.
"Yeah!" Alisha yelled back. "It's getting worse! Did you find Severus?"
"Yeah! James and Sirius have got him!"
"Then let's get outta here!"
Kelsey waved to the two girls she'd been talking to. "Take care, ladies! I'll see ya later!" she slurred. She looked at Alisha. "Could I please just g-go talk to them some more? I was j-just getting to the good part of my s-story!"
Alisha looked at Remus with wide eyes and shook her head frantically. "Not a good idea!"
Remus took the hint and took Kelsey's other arm, leading them out of the room and back into the hallway. "What was she doing?" Remus asked Alisha.
"Oh, nothing," she replied, lowering her voice, "just nearly spilling your secret."
Remus stared at her. "Wow. She really is drunk."
James and Sirius were just a little farther down the hall, begrudgingly holding a swaying Severus up on his feet.
"What was he doing when you found him?" Alisha asked, taking Severus' arm and putting it around her shoulders.
"Walking up to people and shouting, 'Ten points from Gryffindor!'" Sirius said, imitating Severus' drunken voice.
"Yeah, that sounds like him," Alisha said. She could see it now—Severus stumbling around and saying something like, "Oh, that's how many points Gryffindor's got? Well, that many points from them! Take away all the points! Give them negative points!"
Kelsey rolled her head back and looked at the ceiling. "Since when have the c-ceilings been so...tall?"
"Or...are we just r-really small?" Severus asked. He slipped from Alisha's grip and fell to the floor, staring up at the high ceilings and continuing to wonder about their height.
Kelsey nodded dazedly. "H-He's got a good point," she said to Remus.
Severus lolled his head to the side to look at her, but found himself looking, instead, up her skirt. He tilted his head curiously. "Disney..." he mumbled.
Kelsey's face flushed, and she weakly kicked at Severus. Her foot barely connected with his head and hit with little to no force at all, but Severus still recoiled as if he'd taken a bludger to the head. No one else had heard his muttering, and blinked at Kelsey curiously, wondering why she was kicking (or trying to kick) Severus.
"This is so weird," James said.
"Not enjoying it?" Alisha asked dryly.
He shook his head. "No, it's just... It's too weird. Let's get them out of here."
;;
They made their way back to the Ravenclaw common room first since it was closest, Kelsey and Severus having a slurred debate on methods of counting all the stairs in Hogwarts the whole way.
"What I can't figure out is why her streak is rainbow," Sirius said.
"What do you mean?" James asked.
"Well, it was rainbow earlier this week, remember?"
"She's drunk," Remus said. "What did you expect it to do?"
"But she wasn't drunk the last time!" Sirius pointed out.
Alisha facepalmed. Sirius just wasn't getting it.
"Oh, speaking of that," Kelsey jumped in, looking at Remus. "Y-You gave me chocolate."
"I did," Remus replied, trying to hide his embarrassment.
"A-And Alisha told me that— OW!" She shifted her gaze to Alisha. "W-Why'd you kick me? !"
Alisha shot her a look that she hoped Kelsey could see through the drunken cloud she was in.
Kelsey sighed and continued staggering along. "You know, I love you guys."
"Oh, here it comes..." James muttered.
"N-No, I really mean it," Kelsey said. "Y-You guys are like my b-brothers. And I l-love you even though you t-tried to set Slumbledore's beard on fire that one time."
"'Slumbledore'?" Sirius laughed, pointing at her. "This isn't weird—it's hilarious!"
Remus rolled his eyes.
"D-Do you guys love me?" Kelsey asked, turning her puppy-dog blue-green eyes (her changed appearance was starting to fade away) on Remus.
Remus cleared his throat, blushing a little. "Of course we do."
"Do you really?" Kelsey slurred.
"Very much," Remus said quickly.
Sirius and James smirked, holding in their laughter. Remus shot them a look, and they looked away, wiping the smiles off their faces.
They stopped at the entrance to the common room. James stepped forward and banged the brass knocker against the wooden door. A voice then spoke, giving them a riddle to answer.
Kelsey looked up at the door, saying a slurred version of the correct answer to the riddle. It seemed that, even drunk, she still retained some of her intelligence.
Alisha shifted Severus' weight a little. (He was nearly passed-out now.) "I'll go take Severus back with me. See you guys tomorrow."
"Night," the three boys replied.
"Bye, Alisha!" Kelsey shouted. "Bye, Severus!"
"Shh!" Sirius hushed.
Kelsey blinked and tilted her head to one side.
"We need to be quiet," Remus told her.
"Ohhh," she said, nodding. She attempted a wink. "I gotcha."
"Merlin's beard..." James breathed.
"I've got her from here," Remus said. "You guys can head on back to the common room."
James smirked. "Oh? You've got it handled?"
Remus blushed and shot James a look. "Shut up, Prongs!"
"What're you worried about?" James asked, gesturing to Kelsey. "She can't even remember her own name right now."
"And whose fault is that?"
Sirius stepped between them. "Come on, mates. Not here."
Remus and James looked at each other for a few moments, then nodded. "Right." James turned and gave a half-wave. "See ya back in the common room."
Remus nodded, and Sirius went off after James. Remus then turned and lead Kelsey in through the door, tugging her down the steps into the common room.
The entire dormitory was deathly quiet, save for the fire cracking in the fireplace, and Remus wondered for a moment if the entire house was out that night. He thought that odd, since the Ravenclaws were usually the ones to stick to their curfews, even on holidays.
Kelsey hummed tunelessly as Remus lead her towards the girls' dormitory. Then she giggled. "I tricked you."
He stopped and blinked at her. "What?" Did she mean about being drunk, or...?
She grinned. "I know you're Remus, not Sirius." Her grin fell, and she lightly rested a hand on his arm. "I'm sure that I'll always know it's you, no matter how much I—" Hiccup. "—drink."
He looked at her for a moment and rested a hand on her shoulder. "You can't let this happen again, alright?"
She nodded. "If you s-say so."
He hesitantly ran a hand over her hair. "If you do, someone might take advantage of you."
She smiled, swaying back and forth. "But I'm w-with you. You'd n-never take a-advantage of me."
He laughed softly, but his smile fell when a few clouds rolled by outside, allowing soft moonlight to stream in through the window. He sighed and looked down. "Come on. You need some rest."
Since there was a charm on the dorms that prevented boys from entering the girls' dorms, all Remus could do was get her to the door and give her a well-meaning shove in the right direction.
She giggled and spun across the room, collapsing onto her bed. "Oh, I'm so dizzy," she said.
Remus laughed softly again, then tossed her hat through the door, the hat landing on her trunk at the foot of her bed. "Goodnight, Kelsey."
"Goodnight, Remus," she mumbled tiredly.
Remus put his hands in his pockets and went back down the steps and out of the Ravenclaw common room, and headed to his own dorm.
"But I'm with you. You'd never take advantage of me."
He shook his head and smiled. What a night... Sure hope Alisha and Snape made it back alright.
;;;;;
Alisha and Severus staggered across the first floor, the light of the moon their only guide as they attempted to locate the staircase that would lead them down to the dungeons. Snape was hunched over slightly, rambling nonsense and giggling at random intervals, his arm slung over Alisha's shoulders, while she clung to his middle and attempted to drag him along beside her.
"Did you know that Remus...hehehe...he's— Oops." He gasped as they sort of stumbled down the stairs and into the wall before Alisha could correct their steps. Snape giggled as they pushed off of the wall. "He really sucks at Potions!"
Alisha let out a puff of air as she nearly was toppled over by the boy leaning on her. She was forced to brace herself against the wall and lean there for a moment with Severus awkwardly pressed up against her, his head resting on her shoulder.
"Like...he's really, really bad at them!" he giggled out. "Like...its baaaaaad! I don't even know if I can teach him!"
Alisha wasn't listening. She was too busy trying not to giggle at the giggling boy, as well as attempting to keep her mind from wandering into dangerous waters. "Come on Se-evv... We gotta get back to the 'orm before we're fo'nd out," she whispered not too quietly, her slurr becoming more noticeable now that she was buzzed.
He lifted his head and looked at her. She felt her heart beat double in its effort to send oxygenated blood to her fuzzy brain. They were so close. They were literally pressed up against eachother, their faces mere inches appart. They could hardly see each other but she was all too aware that he was there.
"See-evv'rus?" she asked.
His arm, which was still wrapped around her shoulders was joined by his other arm. "You know what? You, you, you know what?" he asked.
"W-What?" she asked in a quiet, slurred voice, their alcohol-laden breath mingling and warming their faces. She felt him shift his weight slightly, leaving no room between them.
"You have really...really...really... You're not really beautiful, ya know?" he said in an overly-slurred, apologetic tone.
She nodded. "Y-eah...I know."
"Buuut...you have these really...pretty, pretty, and I mean pretty eyes."
Before she could mutter "Thanks," she felt a pair of warm lips pressed against her own. Her eyes widened and her heart began careening around her chest. Her hands lifted and gripped at his back as she closed her eyes and returned the kiss.
A small voice in the back of her head screamed that she was kissing Severus and that it was wrong. Another part of her mind, however, didn't give a damn what the rest of her mind said and she really just wanted it to continue.
Breaths mingled and blind, uncoordinated kisses continued. Accidental nose kisses, chin kisses, and a few opened-mouthed kisses assaulted both teens' senses before they broke appart.
Alisha, out of breath and blushing furiously, not only from her buzzed condition, blinked in the darkness several times before muttering,
"T-Thanks."
;;
Remus entered the portait hole to find James, Peter, and Sirius waiting for him. Peter, who had been feeling ill all day, hadn't attended the party (going to classes that day in his state had worn him out, unfortunately), but had dragged himself out of bed to wait up for them all.
Remus tiredly dragged himself to one of the big, fluffy chairs by the fire and collapsed in it.
Sirius glanced around before looking at him. "So...you didn't?"
"No, of course not!" Remus snapped, shooting him a glare. "She's drunk!"
The pureblood snorted, almost scoffing at the excuse, and grinned. "Perfect oppurtinity, mate."
"No, Padfoot, I won't take advantage of a girl while she's drunk, and I will continue to believe that neither will you!"
James leaned forward. "But...don't you want to...you know...?"
Remus broke down and slammed the heels of his hands to his eyes and sobbed out slightly. "Yeeeessss!" he groaned as he dug his nails into his forehead. "Soooo baaaad!"
James gave the other boy an understanding look while Sirius shook his head. "Then why didn't you? You're a guy! You have needs!"
Remus let his arms fall away and he glared at Sirius. "No. Just... No."
James nodded and smacked Sirius in the side. "Yeah, he's got a point! Don't be such a twat, Padfoot!"
Sirius smirked and shrugged. "Can't fight nature, mates."
;;
Alisha and Severus arrived at the entrance to the Slytherin common room, and proceeded to stand there gazing at the blank wall, well...blankly.
Severus nudged Alisha. "Go on...'sway' the password."
"'Sway'? No, I... Ehmn, I can't remember the password."
"Damn it," Severus groaned as he released Alisha and fell to the floor in a heap. "Woooow...when did you get so tall?"
Alisha looked down at him, shaking her head slightly before slamming her hand against the wall. "Come on, let us in! We're Slytherins, I swear it! We just... I can't remember the password," she said before she continued to bang against the wall and wail to be let in.
Severus remained on the floor at her feet, utterly useless.
After a few minutes, the wall slid open and Alisha fell forward, landing at Lucius Malfoy's feet.
The blonde looked down at the two in confusion before a hint of amusment crossed his features and he crossed his arms. "My, my, did you two have fun?" he asked with a grin. His attention was drawn to Severus, who lay in a heap, flailing his arms up at him.
"Wooooow! Lucy! How'd you...get way down there? !"
The blonde rolled his eyes and leaned down to pull Alisha to her feet. He shoved her forward towards one of the sofas, where she collapsed and broke out in giggles, before he turned and picked up Severus, who continued giggling and calling him Lucy.
"Don't call me that," the blonde snapped as the entrance to the Slytherin common room closed.