☆ 𝟜 : hallowe'en

four hallowe'en

🧣

'WHAT'S THE OBSESSION with pigs around here?'

    'You fucking what?'

    'I said,' Sirius huffed, 'what's the obsession with pigs around here?'

'I honestly haven't a clue what you're on about, Padfoot,' [y/n] frowned, flapping the Daily Prophet shut and tossing it across the boys' dormitory from Sirius' bed to Remus' lap. The sandy-blond thanked the girl.

'You know,' Sirius sighed. 'Hogwarts. Hogsmeade. The Hog's Head. What's the obsession with pigs?'

'I don't know, Dog-star,' said [y/n], 'maybe they knew you would be coming here and named everything in honour of you.'

Remus snorted as he picked up the newspaper and read the front page, the smile that was previously on his face dropping.

'Prongs,' Peter moaned, 'how long are you going to be?'

    'Two minutes!' James' muffled voice shouted through the dormitory's bathroom door.

    The four remaining Marauders groaned.

    'James,' [y/n] sighed, fiddling with the hole in the sleeve of her jumper.

    'Don't worry if you look too ugly, though, mate. Just make sure you look the same for the Hallowe'en feast tonight!' Sirius barked.

    'Zip it, Padfoot!'

They were waiting for James to come out ready and dressed for his first date. It had taken from seven o'clock until half past nine for him to make is way through his own wardrobe, as well as Sirius'. The friends thought they had lost Minnie at some point, but Peter spotted her ginger paws among the mountain of clothes slowly piling up in the floor of the dorm room. An hour into rummaging through Remus' wardrobe, the dormitory's bathroom door finally swung open and James stepped out wearing old denim jeans with rips at the knees, battered trainers and his red and gold Quidditch jumper.

'I give up.'

'Uh oh,' Peter breathed.

'You're seriously giving up a date with this girl because you can't find anything to wear?' Sirius sighed. 'Even after trying on everything of mine?'

'You could just go like that, Prongs,' said [y/n]. 'It's very you at the end of the day.'

'Well, how do I look?'

'Beautiful,' [y/n] grinned cheekily.

'Absolutely splendid, darling,' Sirius commented.

'You look good,' Peter smiled.

'It's all right,' Remus shrugged, paying more attention to the pages of the Daily Prophet than James' dilemma.

'Seriously now,' James sighed. 'Does it look good?'

'What matters is whether you like it or not, mate,' Sirius replied.

'I absolutely love it,' James beamed. 'But do you think Lily will like it? That's why I'm asking, Sirius.'

'Yeah,' [y/n] reinforced, turning to face Sirius, 'that's why he's asking.' Sirius rolled his eyes at his sister before she continued, 'But seriously, Prongs, you could turn up in a tutu and she probably wouldn't care.'

'Don't give him ideas now, Paws,' Remus joked.

'People,' James groaned. 'You're meant to be helping me.'

'You look great, Prongs. Now, can we go?'

'That's not being helpful, Paws.'

'What more do you want?' [y/n] cried.

'I just want to make a good first impression.'

'You did the complete opposite of that six years ago and look where you are now,' Sirius said. 'Evans clearly doesn't care, Prongs.'

'Yes, but –'

'James,' said Remus sternly, 'let's go, mate. You'll be absolutely fine.'

'All right,' James gave in, dragging himself over to his bed and pulling on a coat and scarf. 'I don't want you following us 'round everywhere to embarrass me though.'

'You don't need to worry about that at all,' Remus assured him.

'Yeah, we're not even going to come to Hogsmeade!' Peter grinned.

'What?' James screeched. 'You're not coming? What if something bad happens? I'll be on my own then!'

'Just go!' [y/n] shouted.

James cowered and made for the stairs. 'OK, OK, I'm going.'

'Good luck!' Sirius called as James disappeared, then he turned to face the remaining three. 'Now time for Mission: Stalk the Date.'

'I thought we were joking about that,' Remus said.

'And what do we do about our jokes, Moony?' Sirius asked as he rummaged through James' suitcase.

'We –'

'We carry them through,' Sirius finished for him, standing up from the floor with a silvery cloth in his hand.

'You're not serious, are you?' Remus quizzed, eyeing the invisibility cloak.

'In more ways than one.'

'Oh, dear Godric,' Remus sighed.

'There's no way all four of us are going to fit under there.'

'We may...' Peter replied to [y/n].

'Of course we can,' Sirius stated. 'We're both average heights and Moony's tallness is cancelled out by Wormtail's shortness.'

'It doesn't work like that,' [y/n] sighed.

'It does in my books. Grab the map.'

'We're definitely not going to fit reading the map under there.'

Naturally, [y/n] was right. They soon hatched an alternative plan, however, of Remus, Peter and [y/n] going ahead to the Three Broomsticks where they would let Madame Rosmerta know about the date and how swimmingly it needed to go and await the arrival Sirius who, under the invisibility cloak would arrive just before James and Lily to let everyone know they were on their way. The four would then leave the pub where under the invisibility cloak, Peter would transform into his rat form and watch the couple from inside to make sure everything was going well and no uninvited guests intruded, namely Severus Snape.

    Dressed in thick autumn coats over their everyday clothes, the four made their way down the leafy path to Hogsmeade. As they reached the edge of the village, Sirius disappeared under the invisibility cloak and the remaining three continued to the Three Broomsticks. Upon arrival, [y/n] let Madame Rosmerta know in her most charming nature that James was likely to slip up on his date and to hover around to ensure it went well. [y/n] joined Remus and Peter with the three's butterbeers and let small talk pass the time.

'He's taking forever,' Peter groaned to Remus and [y/n] while they sat awaiting the return of the other Black twin.

'Well, that means two things,' [y/n] said. 'It's either going good or it's going bad.'

'I'm sure it's going perfectly,' Remus assured them, taking the last gulp of his butterbeer, the remnants of foam leaving a white moustache on his face.

[y/n] immediately burst into laughter and placed a finger over her top lip to try and explain to Remus what the matter was.

'Why are you doing a Hitler impression?'

'A what?' Peter asked from beside him.

'A – you know what, never mind. Paws, it's just foam, calm down,' Remus chuckled, wiping away at his top lip with his sleeve.

[y/n] composed herself and sat straight. She put her metamorphing to use, transforming into a character very similar to Remus but with the addition of a large, white moustache. 'Guess who?' she winked with a giggle.

    Peter laughed far too loud and Remus tried his best to hide his grin behind his hand.

    'Sorry I took a while, almost got caught out by Filch,' Sirius announced upon his arrival. ' why Prongs wants to apologise to him I will never know. But hey, we should get a move on quick because they weren't that far behind me on the path.'

'Hello to you, too,' [y/n] said.

    'I had a thought.'

'That's dangerous,' Remus stated.

'Funny,' Sirius said, deadpanned. 'Anyway, what I was thinking was if I carried on stalking those two I can work out when I need to run and put Prongs' cloak back before he gets there and you two could go and get some stuff from Honeyduke's for me while Peter is doing his ratty thing,' Sirius said.

    'Sounds like a plan,' Remus agreed. 'Shall we make a move then?'

    'Do I have enough time to get a drink?' Sirius asked.

    'Just have the rest of mine,' [y/n] told him, pushing the half-full glass towards her brother.

    'This is why I love you,' Sirius beamed, taking a gulp of the beverage. 'Let's get going.'

    'You're like the spy in that Muggle book Moony let me borrow,' [y/n] giggled. 'It's like you're on a mission.'

    'James Bond?' Remus asked.

    'That's the one.'

    'What's a Muggle spy do?' Peter asked.

    'Take out Muggle villains,' Remus explained briefly as the four left the pub. 'A bit like an Auror.'

    'So,' [y/n] started, 'Wormtail, under the cloak you go.'

    'Remember what you're doing?' Sirius asked as Peter wrapped the invisibility cloak around himself leaving his head floating.

    'Keeping watch for anyone I need to distract from interrupting the date,' Peter restated.

    'Perfect,' Remus smiled.

    'Now, this is a pivotal role, Wormtail,' Sirius reminded him. 'Don't mess up.'

    'Wish me luck,' said Peter, disappearing completely.

    A few seconds later, a small rat re-emerged from the spot beside where Peter once was and scurried off, slipping through the open door of the Three Broomsticks. [y/n] turned around and nudged Remus upon sight of long red hair blowing in the wind and a loud, goofy, James-like laugh that came in their direction.

    'Quick, they're coming,' Remus said. 'Get the cloak on!'

    'D'you reckon he'll try kissing her?' Sirius asked, picking up the cloak from the floor.

    'It doesn't matter, just get under that cloak before they see you,' Remus instructed. 'We'll wander around and meet you in the common room later.'

    'See you soon then,' Sirius said, throwing the invisibility cloak over himself.

    'What do we do?' Remus panicked, fiddling with the tassels of his scarf as he watched James and a lily grow ever closer. 'We told him we wouldn't even be here.'

    'Just act natural,' [y/n] told him, 'it'll be fine. Just you watch.'

    '[y/n]!' Lily called, hurrying down the rest of the path to where the pair stood.

    'Hi, Lily,' [y/n] smiled.

    'Moony,' said James sceptically, 'Paws. Whatever brings you here?'

    The look of suspicion flashed across his eyes.

    'We just came for a drink,' [y/n] said. 'Moony was giving me tips on being a prefect, weren't you, Remus?'

    There was an awkward pause. She nudged is side at the lack of response.

    'Yeah. Yeah, I was.'

    James' eyes squinted behind his gold-rimmed glasses. He quizzed, 'Where are the other two?'

    'They mentioned something about finding secret passages,' [y/n] grinned. 'Something about pranking Snivellus.'

    'Good,' was all Lily said.

    'Well, we'll be off!' Remus said awkwardly, dragging [y/n] gently by the crook of her arm. 'Don't want to get to Zonko's too late!'

    'Enjoy your day!' Lily called.

    'Enjoy your date, more like,' James sniggered to Lily as she joined in light-heartedly.

    'Where d'you want to go then?' Remus asked.

    'Wherever Lily and Prongs aren't?' [y/n] suggested. 'But then again, can we really trust Padfoot to get a job done without distractions?'

    'I think we can,' Remus told her.

    'Great!' [y/n] beamed as she began to run down the path.

    'Wait for me!' Remus called, chasing after her.

    [y/n] turned her head and shouted, 'You'll catch up!'

    She turned back around, her [y/h/c] ruffling in the wind and just as she was about to open the door to Honeyduke's, she felt herself being dragged backwards by a pair of unexpectedly strong arms.

    'Gotcha,' Remus laughed in her ear.

    'Awh, let me go, Remus!' [y/n] cried.

    'Nope,' Remus told her.

    He picked [y/n] up and threw her over his shoulder with all his might and plodded over to the other side of the street.

    'Put me down, Remus! You son of a banshee, put me down!' [y/n] squealed. Remus did as he was told and laughed at the girl before him.

    'Such a spoil sport,' he muttered, smiling as [y/n] turned to punch him lightly in the stomach.

    'Honeyduke's?' Remus finally said, breaking the comfortable silence which had settled around the two for a while.

    'Yes,' [y/n] replied excitedly, dragging her friend by the arm into the sweet shop.

    The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. Remus and [y/n] went their separate ways when the former banished the latter from following him on his search for a birthday present for herself and Sirius as he didn't want her to know what shop he was going to, and therefore guess what she may have. [y/n] wasn't stupid, however. On her walk back from the village, she pulled out her own moving map of Hogsmeade from her inside coat pocket and searched for Remus' name.

    'Maestro's?' she questioned out loud, then beamed. 'Oh, that boy knows me well.'

    Slightly guilty yet smiling to herself, [y/n] placed the map back in her coat, stuck her hands in her pockets and carried on trekking up the path, bowing her head to shield her face from the harsh wind and back to the warmth of the castle. She gave a hello to Professor McGonagall as they passed each other outside the Great Hall and continued to make her way up to Gryffindor Tower. [y/n] trudged up the stairs to the seventh year girls' dormitory and opened the door to Mary, Dorcas and Marlene sat on their beds. Mary was laying upside-down, her head hanging over the side of her bed, Marlene seemed to desperately be trying to fall asleep and Dorcas was reading the Transfiguration textbook, making notes on a scrap piece of parchment.

    'Afternoon, girls,' [y/n] said in bewilderment.

    Marlene groaned. Mary let out a huge sigh.

    'All right, Black?' Dorcas asked, pushing her glasses up her nose.

    'Yeah, I've just come back from Hogsmeade,' [y/n] replied, taking her coat off and throwing it over the end of her bed. 'Where's Alice up to?'

    'She nipped to the owlery to send a letter to her dear Frank,' Marlene dramatised.

    'Did you have a nice time though? Who did you go with?' Dorcas asked, wiping away the ink from her quill that had dropped onto her arm and leaving a black smudge on her toffee-coloured skin.

    'It was great,' [y/n] smiled. 'And it was just me and Remus. We weren't spying on Lily and a James at all.'

    Dorcas and Marlene chuckled whilst Mary let out a short dramatic sob.

    'What's wrong with her?' [y/n] whispered as she sat down on Dorcas' bed.

    'Boy troubles,' Marlene informed, clearly giving up on trying to get some sleep as she sat up straight in her bed.

    'Uh oh,' [y/n] grimaced. 'Who, may I ask?'

    'It doesn't matter,' Mary sniffed theatrically, 'it looks like he's already taken.'

    'Oh, Mary. You really are ever the dramatic,' [y/n] said.

    'I'm not being dramatic!' Mary squealed as she began sobbing again, running off to the dormitory bathroom.

    As the door slammed shut behind her, [y/n] fell back on Dorcas' bed to lie on the girl's legs. A few moments passed as Mary's sobbing and sniffing routine continued in the toilet and Dorcas put away her notes before grabbing a chocolate frog from her bedside cabinet.

    'So are you gonna tell her, or am I?' Marlene finally asked, watching her feet sway band forth in the air as she lay on her back, blonde hair sprawled across the bed covers.

    'It's Lupin,' Dorcas informed [y/n] with a mischievous glint in her eye sent in Marlene's direction.

    'Remus?' [y/n] exclaimed with an explosion of laughter, initiating Mary's sobbing through the door once more. 'Good luck trying to whip that one, Mary! He's an awkward cluster-fuck around girls.'

    'Well, that's what got us thinking,' Marlene said, jumping onto Dorcas' bed next to the owner. 'You're the only girl besides Lily he will talk to.'

    'Oh, Godric, no.'

    'C'mon, [y/n],' Dorcas pleaded. 'Do a girl a favour. Do a fellow, female Gryffindor-in-arms a good deed.'

    'The one and only time he has ever fancied anyone and I got involved was with Sirius, and that went completely tits-up,' said [y/n], glancing at the faces peering down on her.

    'Sirius?' Marlene queried. 'Then again, I suppose he would be a good fu–'

    'Ah, bah bah bah,' [y/n] interrupted, placing a hand over the freckled face. 'Please. Not you as well.'

    'I'd become a Death Eater before that ever happened,' Marlene grinned.

    'But please, [y/n],' Dorcas said, bringing the conversation back-on-track. 'Even if you fail. At least you can say you tried for Mary.'

    'Is Lily on board?'

    'Lily asked the same thing of you,' Marlene stated.

    There was a pause for thought as [y/n] mulled things over. 'Fine. I'll do it.'

    Mary swiftly reappeared from the bathroom with her crying having suddenly stopped with a, 'Would you really?'

    'I would do anything for my fellow lionesses.'

    'Yay!' Marlene and Dorcas cheered, high-fiving each other and clasping hands.

    'Only,' [y/n] interrupted their celebrations, 'because Moony needs a love-life.'

    'Of course,' Dorcas winked.

    'Oh, thank you, [y/n]!' Mary cried, happily this time and flinging her arms around [y/n].

    It was at that moment that the dorm door swung open and a very pink faced, snow covered Lily Evans entered the room. She threw her boots by the laces on to the floor, unbuttoned her coat, and fell to her bed with a happy sigh. She smiled at the ceiling of her bed and giggled before sitting up excitedly.

    'He's a dream.'

    'Are you sure it was Prongs you went on a date with?'

    'It makes you wonder why I said no all the times before.'

    'Oh, no. She's in love!' Mary grimaced making gagging motions, Dorcas slapping her arm lightly.

    'He's such a gentleman,' Lily continued. 'He's so ... nice.'

    'See,' said [y/n], 'I told you he wasn't a complete an utter tosser.'

    'He was still a bit of a wanker to Snape when he turned up at the Broomsticks,' Lily added. 'Not that the dickhead didn't deserve it. Pettigrew sorted him out though.'

    'Two profanities in one sentence,' Marlene approved. 'She feels strongly about that one, girls.'

    'Give over.' A dirty sock was sent in the direction of the four girls. 'I'd best get ready, though,' Lily said, hurriedly changing her outfit.

    'Second date already? I'm impressed, Evans,' Dorcas laughed.

    'No, the Hallowe'en feast is tonight you plonkers.'

    'I'll leave you to it,' [y/n] said. 'The boys are probably having to deal with another Potter fainting episode.'

    'Sounds dangerous,' Mary responded. 'But remember your deal.'

    'I remember. No promises though.'

    'Deal?' Lily asked.

    'Mary,' Dorcas said, 'and Remus.'

    'Good luck,' Lily called, saluting [y/n] as she left the room. 'He's a difficult one for conversations of romance!'

    [y/n] simply saluted back.

    Talking to Remus about any relationship was difficult. Even telling him about Andrew Parsons in fifth year was awkward, but might have been made more so by the fact that he was the one who found them. [y/n] definitely believed the only reason he swore to secrecy was so he didn't have to talk about it ever again. The pair didn't talk for a good two months after that which was made even more awkward by the fact —

    'PADFOOT!'

    'Hello, James. Nice to see you, too,' [y/n] said, bewildered as the Head Boy stormed past her in the common room up to the stairs of the boys' dorm.

    [y/n] followed the noise of the door slamming, muffled shouting and the scuffling of feet to be greeted by Sirius cowering in the corner as James towered over him.

    '– spying on me to –'

    'What's going on?' [y/n] asked Remus as she perched on the end of the bed.

    '– making sure it was going –'

    'Padfoot got caught, clearly,' Remus replied, not shifting from his position lying on the bed reading his Potions textbook.

    '– and Wormtail transforming –'

    'It went well then,' a taken-aback [y/n] remarked sarcastically.

    '– were making sure!"

    'Apparently so,' said Remus. 'How was Lily?'

    '– could have gone wrong, so –'

    'Positively beaming,' [y/n] smiled. 'It was like looking at a ray of sunshine.'

    '– went fine though, didn't it?'

    'So Prongs is just being paranoid?' Remus asked, tapping beside him on the bed. 'Help me out with this.'

    'Yes, he is,' said [y/n], as she lay next to Remus. 'Though when is he not when it comes to Lily?'

    '– could have been terrible –'

    'So, Felix Felicis is a tricky one by the looks of it,' continued Remus, showing [y/n] the recipe page.

    'Whatever!'

    'Slughorn doesn't like making it easy for us though, does he?' [y/n] replied.

    'Whatever to you, too!'

    'Any sign of Wormtail?' Remus quizzed.

    'Not by the looks of it. He probably thinks he still has to distract Snivellus.'

    'Poor bloke.'

    'You two finished then?' [y/n] asked James and Sirius.

    'Yeah,' Sirius spat, crossing his arms and turning away from James, 'just about.'

    'Hmph,' was all James could muster, mimicking Sirius' actions.

    'Well, kiss and make-up, we're off to the Hallowe'en feast,' Remus said, giving [y/n] a helping hand off the bed. 'You coming?'

    'Duh,' Sirius said, dragging a delighted James with him down the stairs. 'Where's Wormtail, by the way?'

     The feast was as wonderful as all the years before. Fountains of pumpkin juice, towers of pies, never-ending plates of roast dinners, bowls of sweets constantly refilling themselves and wheels upon wheels of treacle pie. Bats and floating carved pumpkins danced around the Great Hall and the ghosts of the castle put on a display which was rather comedically interrupted by Peeves' mischievous antics. But despite all the celebrations, Peter had yet to turn up by the time everyone turned to their beds.

    'Are you sure you checked everywhere on the map?' Sirius sighed, throwing his cushion across the room and grimacing as it landed near the fire. He let out a breath of relief as the conversation continued.

    'I'm not one to be un-thorough, dear little brother,' [y/n] stated, lightly punching Sirius.

    'Did we check the kitchens?' James asked.

    'That was the first place we looked,' Remus pointed out.

    'He's probably having the time of his life rummaging through the stock cupboard in Honeyduke's,' Sirius chuckled, standing up to retrieve the cushion and throwing it back onto the sofa. 'I'm off to bed, anyone else?'

    'But we can't just leave Wormtail out on his own,' James argued. 'We have to find him!'

    'I'll stay up and wait for him if you want to sleep,' [y/n] offered.

    'I'll stay as well, then,' added Remus. 'Go on, Prongs, you've had a long day.'

    'All right then,' James replied considerably brightly. 'Good night!'

    He turned to join Sirius up the stairs and from the sound of the bang and the over-dramatic groan, he pushed him into the door, too.

    'He was quite quick to change his mind,' [y/n] said, watching the dregs of her tea swirl around in her mug. 'Moony?'

    [y/n] looked up to see Remus staring blankly in her direction.

    'Remus,' [y/n] said sharply.

    'Sorry,' Remus apologised. 'Just thinking about Peter. He's probably lost in Hogsmeade. I knew we shouldn't have left him.'

    'I know,' [y/n] replied. 'Imagine all the mischief we could have got up to this late at night.'

    'Really?'

    'What? It would be fun to set up some early pranks on the villagers and- Oh my Godric, he's still in Hogsmeade!' [y/n] cried. 'Hold on!'

    'What is going on?' Remus asked, bewildered.

    She ran off up the stairs to her dorm, said a brief hello to the girls getting ready for bed, a sorry to Alice for slamming the door open into her, grabbed her moving map of Hogsmeade from her coat pocket and reappeared downstairs again. She threw herself onto the sofa next to Remus and opened the map.

    'You have a moving map of Hogsmeade?' Remus asked.

    'Obviously,' said [y/n]. 'I had to practice making our one somehow, didn't I?' She pointed to the other map on the coffee table. 'This one just doesn't have a concealment charm. And please don't tell the others.'

    Remus winked.

    'Please.'

    'OK, OK,' Remus laughed. 'But will it show us where Wormtail is?'

    'Yes, and he's not in Honeyduke's. He's in the Shrieking Shack.'

    'How do you know?' Remus asked in shock, following where [y/n]'s finger was pointing and quickly came to the same realisation as [y/n]. 'He's with Snape?'