Humiliation

Severus took a deep breath as he donned the black helmet and looked at his Darth Vader costume; Lily and the girls had spent more time making it for him than deciding on their own costumes for the Slug Club Hallowe'en Costume Party (which was saying a lot). He let out a sigh, which (unfortunately) caused the mask to make its irritating mechanical sounds, exactly like it did in the films. He picked up the lightsaber hilt, a machination of his own (at Lily's request), and switched it on. A red blade shot forth with a cinematic hum, which he tested by swinging it around and striking it against the wall; fortunately, it was enchanted to be completely harmless.

Deactivating the lightsaber, Severus approached the door, took a deep breath (making the same embarrassing sound again), and opened it, only to find that it was flanked by "stormtroopers"; while he couldn't see any faces, he who exactly was under each helmet by the codes on the left breast of their chest armor. FW-1978 and GW-1978 stood across from the door, each, as well as the others present, handling their "blasters" (courtesy of Regulus, he suspected) responsibly (or as responsibly as one could handle a fake weapon). SB-1980 and OB-1980 stood to Severus's left; NFS-1980 and HJS-1980 stood to his right. Blocking the corridor where Severus wasn't going stood RBW-1980 and DP-1980.

"The corridor is clear, Lord Vader," FW-1978 announced in an American accent, stepping forward.

Severus didn't know what was worse; the fact that Fred Weasley was this invested in the role or the fact that he himself had been dragged into all of this. But a bet was a bet.

"... then, let us depart for the Great Hall," Severus commanded, his Vader voice echoing down the corridor as he turned on his heel and strode in the direction of the party.

"Move out," FW-1978 commanded to the other stormtroopers, and all followed in an orderly fashion.

As they moved down the corridor and to the staircase, passing by several students who were dressed up, Severus felt his entire face burn; he was grateful the helmet hid him. A majority of the pure-blood students had no idea what to make of the spectacle, but the same couldn't be said for the Muggle-born or half-blood population. Whispers of amusement followed the "Imperial forces" as they eventually entered the Great Hall, where Hogwarts students were mingling with the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, the latter two having been made aware of the costume party tradition. Off to the side, Alice-Marie (dressed as Princess Leia) was serving drinks to Viktor Krum (uncostumed) and Ms. Granger (dressed as a suffragette from the early 1900s, as though she wasn't insufferable enough), who were busy talking about something (he didn't care at the moment), while Marley (dressed as an Imperial officer) was discussing something with Draco (uncostumed), Mr. Nott (also uncostumed), and the Delacour and Greengrass sisters (with only Astoria dressed as Rowena Ravenclaw).

"Well, you see, Tori," Marley was saying in one of her prompted Marlenian speeches, which typically involved copious amounts of gesticulation and word emphasis, "Mummy and Daddy went to see the first one before Alice was born, and then they bought them on VHS for us all to watch together."

"Can't believe Professor Snape would go and see that," Draco sneered as he drank from his cup.

"And what iz thiz 'VHS'?" Fleur asked.

"A VHS is a Muggle device that they use to record visuals and put them into a screen."

"We have enchanted portraits for that," Draco countered.

"You really are a killjoy, aren't you?" Astoria asked Draco.

"All I know is you won't be catching a respectable wizard wearing those sorts of costumes."

"Good evening, citizens." All heads in the group turned as SB-1980 and OB-1980 approached them. SB-1980 continued in a god-awful American accent, "Have any of you seen any droids?"

"I've just been interrogating them, trooper," Marley said with a laugh.

"Permission to remove our helmets?"

"Granted."

SB-1980 and OB-1980 removed their helmets, revealing Sirius and Orion Black.

"Not you two!" Draco exclaimed with outrage. "How do you even know what this 'Star Wars' nonsense is?!"

"... we live in London," Orion answered. "We've obviously gone out to the theatre."

"And next, you'll be telling me Professor Snape's the one in black," Draco continued, gesturing to Severus.

Everyone, including every human being who could see Severus, turned to stare. Severus felt his face burn as a look of realization dawned on Draco, then Mr. Nott, and then the Greengrass sisters, which then spread across the room. All eyes locked on him to witness the shame of losing another bet against his wife (dressed as Joan of Arc), who was standing with Headmistress McGonagall (uncostumed), both trying (and failing) to hide her amusement.

He needed to stop gambling on the Sorting Hat.