Hermione shook her head and discarded the letter from her cousin. Her cousin, Calista, was the typical normal muggle teenager who hated school and reading anything that was over four sentences long but loved parties and hanging out with her friends. Despite the two of them being completely different, Hermione and Calista actually got along pretty well.
"Who was that from?" Ginny asked.
"My cousin is having a Halloween party next week and invited me and my friends." Ever since Hermione had leaked the secret that she and her friends had a way to sneak out of their private school– at least that's what she and her parents had told her family, that she was attending a very strict and prestigious boarding school– Calista had been bombarding her with letters about wanting to meet all of Hermione's new friends.
Harry and Ginny looked at her with wide eyes. Ginny had found out what a muggle Halloween party was from Harry two years ago when it had come up during a conversation. "Let's go!" The two said in unison, though Ginny seemed more excited about the prospect of going than Harry did.
"Where are we going?" Came the familiar dreamy voice of Luna, who had been passing by.
"A muggle Halloween party!" Ginny exclaimed.
Hermione shot her a glare. "We are not going."
Luna tilted her head in thought. "I have outfits. It has been a while since I've been to one."
The three Gryffindors gaped at the Ravenclaw with open mouths. "You've been to a Halloween party? To a muggle party?" Hermione asked in disbelief.
Luna slowly nodded her head, her eyes staring at something far off in the distance. "Oh, yes. My father and I went to one a few years ago. It was fun." Everyone wanted to, but no one asked how the two of them had managed to go to a muggle party and not get caught.
"Why'd you wanna go to one of those?" Ron asked after swallowing his food.
Ginny elbowed him in the side. "What was that for?" Ron glared at his sister.
"I think we should," said Harry, earning a nod from Ginny.
"Count me out," grumbled Ron, still rubbing his side where Ginny had hit him.
. . . . .
Luna skipped down the hallways, heading to class. Her feet were shoeless since she woke up with them missing.
"Again?" Crabbe asked incredulously, looking pointedly at her feet. He had slowly become a friend of hers over the years.
"You get used to it after time."
Crabbe shook his head. "I don't know how you do it." He turned to walk away but stopped midway. "What were you talking about with the Gryffindors?"
Luna let out a soft hum. "A party. We will be going to a party."
Crabbe's eyes widened, filled with a wondrous lust. "Will there be food?" Luna nodded. Crabbe could be like the rest of the Slytherins, but he was kind most of the time, or at least when he had food. And that's how the two of them became friends, by Luna giving him food every once in a while.
Luna found that she liked giving him food over the years. He did make a good taste tester, and Luna could find out what of her cooking was edible and what wasn't.
. . . . .
Ginny watched as Luna dropped clothes onto her bed. It was the night before the party, and they were picking out their outfits.
She shuffled through the clothes. There was a lion's head with a matching tail, yellow feathers strung into a necklace, a green tube dress, a black tube dress with a silver train, black masks, towering top hats. Ginny looked at her friend with wide eyes. "Where did you get all of this?"
"Gifts and lost things," Luna answered in that dreamlike voice of hers.
The door to the room opened, and Hermione came in. "Are we choosing from these?" She pointed to the pile of fabric, which earned her a nod from Luna.
Hermione hadn't wanted to attend the party at first, but Ginny had persuaded her. It helped that Harry and Luna were also excited about going.
An hour later and they had their costumes picked out and were trying them on. Ginny spun around in front of the full-length mirror. She was currently trying on the green dress, but something was missing.
"I don't know about this." Hermione nervously tugged at the bottom of the black dress that she wore. "I don't think this suits me."
"I think you should switch dresses," Thalia said to Hermione and Ginny. Thalia Ballester was Ginny's roommate and was going to help cover for them when they snuck out for the party.
Rhea, Ginny's other roommate, magicked a flower headband. "Whoever wears the green dress should wear this. I think green and flowers will work nicely together." Luna nodded her head to show that she agreed.
Hermione and Ginny quickly switched dresses. Ginny spun around. "Perfect. All it needs is glitter."
Hermione looked down at the green dress that she now wore. "Better." Rhea handed her the flower crown.
Luna tilted her head. With a flick of her wand, Hermione's hair straightened out. Ginny had to admit that the look fit her perfectly.
"We are going to kill it tomorrow," said Ginny with a wide, playful smirk.
. . . .
"We are so dead if we get caught," Pansy complained. Somehow, Crabbe and Goyle had convinced Pansy, Blaise, and Draco to sneak out of school to go to a muggle Halloween party. Draco went along with the idea because it seemed interesting and he was secretly interested in muggles.
They followed Granger, Potter, Weaslette, and Lovegood as covertly as possible. A few weeks ago, Crabbe had overheard them talking about attending a party in the muggle world to celebrate All Hallows Eve. Honestly, Crabbe's only reason for convincing them was so that he could try the muggle treats that would be offered. Goyle agreed as soon as he heard about the food and Blaise decided to go along with it to see what muggle women had to offer. Draco only tagged along to keep everyone out of trouble, at least that is what he told them.
They apparated to one of the streets not far from where the party was being held. "Are you sure we're dressed like the other muggles?" The last thing Draco wanted was to stand out and risk being exposed.
Pansy winked at him and blew a kiss. The drawn on whiskers on her cheek scrunched up with the action. "Of course." The tail attached to the back of her black-leather outfit swayed when she turned. It was odd to see the girl dressed up as a cat and all the boys were surprised with how well she had pulled it off.
"Don't worry," Blaise placed a long, slender arm over his shoulder. The black curled mustache that he wore twitching every time he spoke. "We did our research. We'll fit in perfectly." Blaise removed his arm from around Draco's shoulder and pulled down the eye patch that he wore, covering up one eye. Blaise had told him that that was how muggle pirates looked.
Draco sighed and decided to put his own mask on. Blaise had brought him his costume just hours before and insisted that it would look good on Draco. The muggle costume was a black outfit with a cape attached to the shoulders. Slung around his hips was a leather belt with a plastic sword attached to it. On his head he wore a black rimmed hat and covering the upper part of his face was a black mask.
Crabbe wore a red and purple outfit that came with a red top hat with colorful feathers on it. Hanging around his neck was a necklace made from bones. Goyle was dressed up as a professor with a monocle. Maybe they should have done what Pansy had and picked their own costumes instead of leaving it up to Blaise.