Part 4: The Halloween Masquerade

Hogwarts readies itself for the Halloween Masquerade.

“What’s with you?” asked Cho. I sighed and mananged a neutral look.

            I shrugged. “Oh…nothing…”

            “Come on, you’re obviously hiding something from me!” She placed her hands on her hips and glared at me playfully.

            I punched her playfully.  “It’s nothing! Serious! And...whatever…”

            “Come on…let’s go.”

            And we went to our dorms for the night. I slept soundly and deeply, waking only when I felt something blowing in my ear.

            I shot up with a gasp. It was all dark, considering the curtains around my bed were drawn. I saw what had woken me.

            Floating above me was a silvery man in a pinstripe suit with a polka dot tie, grinning mischeviously at me. A poltergeist.

            I gasped and pulled the covers up around my chest as I sat up against my pillow. I was wearing a very revealing short nightgown that was black and showed my bare legs.

            “Who are you?” I asked quietly.

            The poltergeist smiled at me again, this time suggestively and bobbed his eyebrows up and down at me. I scowled and he laughed merrily.

            “Ittle sixth year! Drapea Veela! Drapea Veela!” he shouted, almost loud enough to wake the entire castle. “Peevesy likes you!”

            “Get away!” I whispered loudly and urgently, hesitant not to wake the girls.

            “But Peevsy is just beginning to have fun with Veela! Ickle Veela! Vela Veeela! HEEE-heeee!!!!”

            I growled and got out my favorite device of all. My magical iPod. It’s powered by magic and not electricity, so it’s perfectly useful here.

            I snapped my headphones into my ears and turned on “My Immortal” by Evanesence. While the drone of my favorite song played and Amy Lee’s voice lulled me slowly to sleep, I thought of my own sorrows, my own sadness. Tears welled up in my eyes. Her voice was just so mournful, so convincing of her sadness. I tried my best to blink them away, but ended up sobbing myself to sleep.

 

            I was running through the Dark Forest, my footsteps crackling everytime I stepped because of the fallen leaves. It was dark and misty. I then heard something breathing behind me. I turned around.

            Nothing.

            I kept running. I heard a howl behind me. I gasped and turned once more.

            “Who’s there?!” I asked loudly. I rotated all about. The forest was quiet and devoid of any sound except for the frantic beating of my own heart, which pounded loudly in my ears. Fear surged through me, making me panic.

            I suddenly felt like I was being watched.

            I gasped, panting hastily, turning every which-way.

            I spotted a black robbed figure in the distance.

            “Who are you? Who are you?!”

            I glanced all around, the figure having disappeared right before my eyes. Just then, I turned and saw the figure in front of me.

            “Who are you?! What do you want?!”

            I turned again, finding he had vanished once more.

            And then…I screamed.

 

            I shot up in bed. I saw, that by the light coming from the sun, it was only early morning.

            A cold sweat had formed on my brow, chilling me to the bone. I was shivering and my teeth were chattering like crazy. I laid down, pulling my covers up to my chin.

            “What does it mean?” I asked, closing my eyes for what seemed like the longest time.

 

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            It was Saturday, so, thankfully, I ddin’t have any classes. After my nightmare, I wanted to be left alone to think about it. I took another long, hot shower, the water relaxing the tension that was now in my muscles. I dressed in long black boots that went to my thighs, a short skirt the length of my knees, a corset-lie shirt which had sleves that tightened around my elbow and flowed freely from there. A black Gothic cross hung around from around my neck by a thick black ribbon. I styled my hair into a messy bun that turned out perfectly complimented on the left of my head by a white flower clip with a grey ribbon hanging from it.

            I looked pretty Gothic today.

            In additon to that, I did up my eyes a bit with some solid eyeliner and mascara. Nothing more than that was needed.

            I slipped out from my dorm, the girls still sleeping, for an early morning breakfast. The thought of my nightmare still haunted me.

            Who was that robed figure? And why was I in the Forbidden Forest? I don’t suppose…no…it couldn’t be, could it…?

            I sauntered into the Great Hall. Very few teachers were there, including a man I believed to be Snape. I hadn’t yet had classes wih him, but I knew on Monday they were coming up. He had short, greasy black hair the length of his shoulders, black, unforgiving eyes, a nose which oddly resembled a hook, and a face as cold as stone. I shuddered at his aura. It was menacing and mean and very…ugh. I couldn’t decribe it. It was horrible.

            I had to admit that Cho was correct about Snape. He was cruel. I could feel the vibes of tension radiating of from the few Gryffindors, especially Neville.

            I sat down at the Ravenclaw table. Surprisingly, I was the only one there. I smirked happily at this. For once, I had some real alone time.

            I chowed down less than I usually did with just some small sasuages, thin strips of bacon, and a tiny helping of scrambled eggs; I washed it down with some burning hot chocolate. I barely noticed it because I was too busy thinking about the nightmare.

            Hearing voices from outside the Hall, I quickly sprinted outside and to some spot near the Dark Forest. The leaves were just beginning to fall and the trees’ leaves were so many crisp colors. Awed, I stepped in and inhaled. It was so clean! I absolutely loved it. I walked on farther, now to examine some the plants all around.

            Just then, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I slowly turned to face the person.

            My face lit up.

            “Hey, Neville! Wh-what are you doing here?”

            “Well…I-I just saw you and thought…maybe…”

            He blused deeply. I thought that it was really cute.

            “Yes?”

            “…uh…I-I…just wa-wanted to…uh…t-talk to you.”

            “Sure. Come on, let’s walk!”

            Neville looked around nervously, but after I tried to convince him a few times that nothing bad would happen, he seemed to lighten up. We walked in silence for the next couple of minutes, Neville by my side. I finally noticed what he was wearing. A plain marroon sweater covered his chest while a pair of burgundy-colored pants went very nicely with it. Neville seemed very nervous. He appeared to only get scared around girls, considering he was always blushing; especially me, I noticed. I had to admit that he was absolutely…cute. I then felt my pale cheeks rise with color.

            “So…where’s Trevor?”

            “He’s back in my dormitory for safe-keeping.”

            “Oh…well, that’s good…”

            “Y-yeah…I guess…”

            Leaves crunched under our feet. I took a glance at Neville, he, too, was looking at me. I turned my head away, my face burning crimson.

            “…what d-do…you like, Drea?”

            I stopped and turned to look him straight in the eye. He halted beside me.

            “You can…probably tell from my outfit that…I like dark stuff.”

            “W-well…yeah…” he trailed off, looking overly nervous right now.

            “Tell me, what kinds of things do you like?”

            “Well, I’m not very g-good at any classes…I-I like Herbology, though! Y-yeah, I’m real good with t-that!”

            “What a coincidence. So am I!”

            “R-really? I-I mean, y-you are?”

            “Yeah. Prof. Dumbledore mentioned to everyone I was dscended from Wiccans. Didn’t you remember?”

            “Now I do. I-I have a bad memory. I forget things easily.”

            “Ah,” I said waving my hand, “happens to all of us.”

            I smiled.

            “Happens to me everyday.”

            Neville looked down sadly, hands at his sides. I stood in front of him and clasped them in mine. I carressed them gently with my long fingers and held them tightly, squeezing them affectionately.

            He looked up at me.

            “It happens, Neville. Don’t blame yourself for being…you,” I whispered loudly, placing a hand on his cheek, raising his face to mine. I stared into his eyes, which were a nice green-blue. He looked back into mine, breathing softly. Neville touched my face lightly, still seeming slightly anxious. And then, I leaned in, kissing him softly on the lips. He seemed surprised at this, but kissed back.

            He pulled away.

            “Thanks,” he whispered.

            And we kissed once more.

 

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            Harry sat down at the table next to Ron and across from Hermione. She was wearing long jeans and white long sleeved shirt with rhinestones in the form of a butterfly. Ron had on a battered green sweater paired off with dark blue jeans. Harry had on a light blue turtle neck with a navy blue jacket over it and torn dark blue jeans.

            “Don’t you guys think that it was impressive the way Drea knew so much about Sphinxes?” Hermione asked, gulping down pumpkin juice from her goblet.

            “Yeah,” said Ron. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if she spent most of her time with her head stuck in a book.”

            Ron and Harry laughed while Hermione scowled at him.

            “Speaking of Drea, do you guys even know anything about her? For all we know, she might be working for You-Know-Who!”

            “Don’t talk about Drea like that!” exclaimed Harry, grasping the table with both hands. “She does not serve Voldemort, and she never will!”

            “I’m just saying Harry! Sorry!”

            “Will you two stop it? Everyone’s looking at us!” Hermione hissed, darting her eyes side to side.

            “You’re right,” he admitted, calmly sitting down. He looked around and saw the Hall’s doors open. His breath caught in his throat.

            In walked Drea, as beautiful as ever, but made even more so by the smile on her face. She was gorgeous, but…Neville was beside her, grinning from ear to ear. Jealously raged in him as Drea looked lovingly at him. Harry tried his best to calm himself down. He couldn’t figure out why he was acting this way. Do I like Drea?

            He watched as she kissed Neville’s mouth tenderly and sat down at the Ravenclaw table. Harry felt really angry now.

            Oh, yes, it was clear now that he did.

 

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            I could feel myself literally glowing as I sat down. I was smiling wildly and everyone seemed to be staring at us. I saw Cho enter the Hall. She walked over to me with a suspicious look on her face.

            Putting her hands on her hips, she asked, “Okay, what are you so happy about?”

            “Oh…nothing!” I giggled, waving her off. She sat down beside me, leaning in and whispering softly.

            “Come on, you know you can tell me anything, Drea. Anything…”

            “Well…I kissed…”

            “Who did you kiss?”

            “Um…Neville…”

            “Neville? You mean Neville Longbottom? Oh, come on, you have got to be kidding me!”

            “Seriously, I did! He’s very sweet and very nice…once you get to know him.”

            “Hmm…still, Neville?”

            “Yes, Neville. I’m sorry you don’t approve of him, Cho.”

            “Drea, it’s not that, it’s just-”

            “Just what? Just because he’s forgetful and very thoughtful makes him bad?!”

            “No, Drea…”

            “No, Cho, I won’t take this anymore. I’ve had it!” I got up adruptly from the table. “I’m leaving!”

            At that, I stormed off. I could feel emotion clouding my reason. What’s wrong with me? I usually don’t treat Cho like that. With all this, it’s just so…so overwhelming.  I have got to get away.

           

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            Harry suddenly saw Drea stand up adruptly at her table and say something to Cho. She then stormed off out the doors, quickly avoiding Cho’s grasp, who was running after her.

            Harry stood up, concern in his emerald eyes. He quickly gathered up his stuff and made a beeline for the doors.

            “I-I have to go guys. I’ll see you later.”

            “Harry! What’s wrong?” shouted Hermione, calling after hik. He didn’t hear her finish the last part because he was already out them doors and running after Drea, wildly calling her name.

            “Drea! Drea, wait! What’s wrong?”

            She stopped and turned around. Tears were gleaming brightly in her mesmerizing eyes. Some fell down her pale, pale cheeks, staining them. Drea’s cheeks were flushed and rosy. Harry had to admit she looked lovely even when she was sad. He also noticed one other thing: Drea’s eyes had changed color from a deep silver to a cloudy, almost black, grey.

            She sniffed. “Cho is what’s wrong! She seems to have some sort of problem with…” Drea broke off, placing her face in her hands, sobbing silently.

            Harry approached her slowly. “Who does she have a problem with?”

            “…Neville…she thinks that he…isn’t good enough for me…” She said all of this through sobs.

            Harry stepped towards her slightly, positioning himself right in front of her. He put two fingers under her chin and lifted it to his eye-level. He searched her eyes. They were changing colors almost slightly from the cloudy grey-black to a bright white-silver hue.

            “It’s going to be okay,” Harry said. At this, Drea fell into his arms, hugging him tightly around the waist. He was at first surprised, but then wrapped his own arms around her as well.

            After a few moment had passed, Drea and Harry pulled away. Drea’s eyes, Harry noted, were specled silver again, but with puffy and swoolen skin around them. She smiled gratefully through her tears. Drea placed a hand on his cheek. The warmth of it almost stung his skin, but in a good way. Harry didn’t want her hand to leave. He felt it belonged there.

            “Thanks, Harry,” she whispered loudly, her voice partly hoarse. Then she did the last thing he expected her to. She stood on her toes and kissed him gently, but tenderly on the cheek. He manuvered his eyes to his hand, which was touching the kissed cheek. When he had turned back to Drea, Harry noticed that hse was gone.

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            I couldn’t believe what I had just done. I kissed Harry. On the cheek, though, but still…I couldn’t believe what I had just done. I felt so drawn to him, and he to me. It was the most perfect moment. The reason I had disappeared was because at that exact moment, I remembered Neville. I didn’t want to hurt his heart. He had been hurt ebough already, muchless by me. There didn’t need to be yet another thing added to that list.

            I ran swiftly down the corridor, not looking back to see Harry’s reaction. My heart was pounding wildly, but not just from exhaustion. Panting, I heard a voice behind me.

            “Well, hello there, lovely. Come back to see me?”

            I rolled my eyes and immediately knew who it was. I turned around to see Draco Malfoy leaning up against the wall, arms crossed and a stupid smirk on that gorgeous ferret face of his. I scowled.

            “What do you want, Malfoy?”

            “Oh, I think you know very well what I want. It’s you.” He came up to me and carressed my cheek. I shoved his hand away.

            “No thanks. I’m not interested.” Just as I turned away, he slipped an arm around my waist and pulled me to him.

            “You know you want me,” murmured Draco as he nuzzled my neck gently with his nose. I was taken aback at first, but then delved myself into my desire. I succumbed, kissing him gently, and then more passionately. Malfoy kissed back with as equal passion, his hands sweeping down my curves, and…

            I shoved him away and wiped my black sleeve across my mouth.

            “Oooh, fiesty are we? I like my women that way!”

            “You got what you wanted, now go!”

            “Don’t you-?”

            “Go and LEAVE ME ALONE!”

            I screamed with such force that I left the corridors quaking with the very echo of my voice. He ran off before I could even catch one glimpse of him.

            I dropped to the ground, my face in my hands. Tears welled up in my eyes and wet my hands. Malfoy’s kiss reminded me of of Neville, who reminded me of…Harry…

            I got up, sobbing, into the Forbbiden Forest. I ran and ran until I could run no longer. I fell from exhaustion right beside a tall oak tree. I clutched my knees to my chest and kept crying into my arms.

            “What’s wrong with me? Why a-am I so…s-so broken?” I sobbed, sputtering out the words into the air. I weeped even after all my tears were long gone, feeling so dark and sorry for myself more than ever.

            That’s when I heard the thumping.

            “Who’s out there?” called a gruff voice. I jumped up as I recognized it. Hagrid’s giant form appeared from right around the tree. He looked shocked when he saw me in front of him, looking at him with tear-stained eyes.

            “Whadda’ya doin’ out here, Drea? Yeh know yer not allowed ter be out here!”

            “Oh, Hagrid!” I ran into his arms, sobbing once more. Hagrid seemed shocked at first, but wrapped his arms around me.

            “Now, tell me. What’s wrong?”

            “E-everything,” I murmured softly. Lucklily he heard me and nodded.

            “I understand. Come on ter me hut an’ we can ‘ave some tea. Sound good?”

            I nodded and smiled gratefully. I quickly kept pace with him and talked about everything, including my past.

           

            Hagrid made decent tea, but awful rock cakes. I had given my cake to Hagrid’s large boarhound named Fang. Fang may have been large, but he certainly wasn’t fearsome the way he had jumped on me and was licking me furiously. I had pet him at least twelve times so far. He was very sweet and lovable.

            “The way you were talkin’ Drea, it sounds as if you’ve had a horrible life,” said Hagrid, pouring tea first into my cup and then into his. Fang was next to me, panting happily. I picked up my tea and took a long sip. It tasted somewhat like green tea.

            I put down my cup on the saucer. “Well, it hasn’t been all bad. I-it’s just…”

            “…the bad stuff?”

            “Yeah. Yeah, it is. It overhwelms me so much, I just don’t know how to control it.”

            “Jus’ take a coupla o’ deep breaths before yeh get outta control.”

            “Thanks, Hagrid,” I said, smiling warmly.

            He smiled back. “Anytime. Now, I  think it’s time fer yeh ter go back up ter the school. It’s getting’ late.”

            “Yeah…I guess you’re right. Well,” I said, getting up, “see ya, Hagrid!”

            Fang whined as I left. Hagrid kept smiling as I shut the door. I couldn’t help but grin once more.

 

            I noticed that it had gotten darker while I was in Hargrid’s hut. Stars flickered in the inky blackness as the moon glowed brightly. The moon and stars were reflected in the Black Lake like a mirror. It was really pretty.

            I headed for the castle, which was illuminated brightly by torches and candles all around. I opened the big wooden doors and slipped quietly inside, careful not to make any noise for fear of getting caught. I shuffled silently to the stairs that led to the Great Hall and trudged up them quietly. I placed my ear to one of the Hall doors and listened carefully. I heard a buzz of sound, which was good because that meant Dumbledore hadn’t  spoken just yet.

            I pushed the right door open and it creaked lightly. Some people looked my way, curiousity sparkling in their eyes. Once they were statified, they shifted their eyes back to their friends. Very few kids, including most of the boys, continued to stare at me with entranced expressions on their faces.

            Remembering the fight I had with Cho, I sat awkwardly down on the bench. I glanced quickly to the Gryffindor table. Neville was still and silent, but once he noticed me out of the corner of his eyes, he waved shyly as I mouthed “hi” and blew him a kiss. Neville turned a light pink and smiled a little before turning away. I shifted my eyes farther and noticed Harry staring intently at me. I mangaged to avoid his gaze, searching for Cho at the Ravenclaw table.

            I found her talking animatedly with her other friends, including some girl named Marrieta. I quickly averted my eyes to my folded hands.

            “Now,” said a voice. I looked at the teacher’s table. Dumbledore was standing with his hands up in the air. All chatter amongst the tables immediately ceased. My interest caught; I silently urged him to continue.

            He did.

            “Now, as you all know, Halloween is nearing. I suppose we all know of the Feast?” Everyone murmured curiously. “Well, the annual feast shall be canceled…” At this, they groaned, but Dumbledore carried on. “…but this year it shall be replaced with…a masquerade.” Every single person in the room stopped talking and turned to stare open-mouthed at him.

            “A masquerade?”

            “Really? Not a feast?”

            “Oooh, I hope it’s fun! Not like those boring feasts we usually have. Ugh.”

            A masquerade? Hmmm…sounds cool.

            “If any of you does not know, a masquerade is a party, in this case a dance, in which the attendees dress in fabulous costumes with masks on their faces. At the end, masks may be removed and identities revealed. I must admit that I have been to quite a few myself. Very entertaining, but also very confusing. The whole purpose for this is to give you all a break, for I know you have all worked extremely hard.

            “Let dinner begin!”

            He waved his hands and the same luscious food appeared on the table set in trays of gold, silver, and bronze. Instead of eating, I poked at the delicious food on my plate. Just so many things weighed heavily on my mind I didn’t feel hungry at all. Instead, I thought simply of the dilema between Cho and I about Neville.

            Why don’t you think of something better?, persuaded a voice in my head. Think about the masquerade. That might be fun.

            But I don’t feel like it.

            You’ll feel better. Much better. Trust me.

            Oh, alright…I’ll try my best.

            I thought about the masquerade, and it turns out that the voice was right. I did feel better. I mulled over what kind of costume I should wear. All of a sudden, Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride popped up in my head. It had always been one of my favorite movies ever since it came out the previous year. Though it was a Muggle movie, I  had watched over and over until I knew it all by heart. I pondered this for just a minute, tapping my unused fork against my plate.

            Suddenly, an image of a girl with black hair as long as mine flooded my mine. I felt my eyes glaze over as I daydreamed. The girl fell from gray and black storm clouds that were showering buckets of rain. She had on a short-sleeved black dress with a collar that went up all the way to underneath her chin. The skirt connected was slightly poofy. The girl’s arms, leading down from the sleeves, were black strings that connected to long black gloves. The gloves covered everything but her fingers. On her legs, she wore black stockings that eventually ended into short black boots.

            Bangs slightly covered her eyes. And I noticed one thing above all others that stood out the most.

            A pair of gigantic black, feathery wings portruded from her back, folded slightly. Her eyes were closed as if she were sleeping. She floated down slowly from the sky and appeared to be peacefully drowsing.

            At that exact moment, I snapped out of my reverie and shook my head a bit to get completely out of my dream. Thinking of the image once more, I smiled for the first time since earlier that day at Hagrid’s hut. I knew

            I knew what I was going to be for the Halloween Masquerade.

 

Reviews

[KisuKimmi]

I've noticed that you tend to use two of the same descriptive words really close together, it would be good to give the reader more of a variety of words. “Come on, you’re obviously hiding something from me!” She placed her hands on her hips and glared at me playfully. I punched her playfully. “It’s nothing! Serious! And...whatever…” In this case you used "playfully" twice.

I've also noticed that you tend to use too many "ly" words sometimes “Get away!” I whispered loudly and urgently, hesitant not to wake the girls." Maybe take out the "loudly" and have it say " I whispered urgently, hesitant not to wake the girls."

The transition is a little off where she uses her magical ipod to drown out Peeves. Peeves character is hard to ignore, it is more likely that he would take the ipod away and not just let her drown him out. Did Peeves leave? Is he still there watching her?

Misspelling: He had been hurt ebough already, muchless by me. There didn’t need to be yet another thing added to that list." "enough" and a space between much and less.

"Suddenly, an image of a girl with black hair as long as mine flooded my mine." "mine" should be changed to "mind."