The Wrong Evans

XIII: The Drunk Confession

Halloween had always been a magical time at Hogwarts, but ever since the Marauders became students, things got far more interesting. Since their first year, the group of brilliant wizards pulled pranks that were only surpassed by themselves the next year. From dancing skeletons that followed Dumbledore everywhere to giggling forks and exploding toilets, they had done it all.

Another thing that kept getting better and better every year, ever since the infamous Gryffindors took matters into their own hands, were the parties: especially the Halloween one—The Halloween bash was unique because not only could you get drunk and dance the night away, you could easily pretend to be someone else for the night and no one would be wiser. It was a strict requirement to wear a costume to said party, and most people loved to go over the top with their disguises.

In past years, Charlie always stuck to relatively safe and magical costumes, mostly out of fear of being cornered by some pureblood that didn't understand it and wanted an explanation. As much as they wanted to act like they understood muggle culture, most just got confused and frustrated with it.

This time around, she decided to go with something completely different. Actually, the idea had come from a chat with Sirius, who had been arguing about muggle telly with James. They discovered it all the way back in their second year when Remus had invited them over summer break, and to her surprise, James' favourite movie was a Disney one—which happened to be one of her favourites. That day they were teased for almost an hour by both Sirius and Pete, but it had been worth it. Who would've known that James Potter had a thing for animated movies about princesses?

Of course, Charlotte knew she would never pull it off without the help of her best friend, who not only happened to be one of the best transfiguration students but also one of the best when it came to beauty charms.

That's how the Ravenclaw found herself standing in front of a mirror with Adam muttering spells, trying to turn her into Snow White. And while she was grateful that he came to help, she hadn't been able to get her mind out of the bloody journal hiding a few meters away from them.

While Adam had noticed her panic the moment he jumped into Charlie's bed a few hours ago, he said nothing. However, as the hours passed, the blond was getting more and more frustrated with his friend's jumpy demeanour. He couldn't understand what could possibly be wrong...

"If you stopped moving,"- Adam's voice brought Charlie's eyes back to her reflection in the mirror. She hadn't even noticed that her eyes, and face, were turned towards her bed once again- "I would've been done ages ago, you know that right?" Adam's voice clearly reflected just how annoyed the boy was with his friend, yet he kept working.

"Sorry, just-" before Charlie could finish, Adam abruptly cut her off.

"Thinking, I know, I'm not going to ask. Don't worry," he grumbled, not even in the mood to go along with one of her excuses. Adam was a patient person, but he was getting fed up with all the excuses and lies his best friends were giving him lately.

Sensing that something wasn't quite right with her best friend, the redhead decided that silence was the best option for the moment. She watched him work through her hair with delicate hand movements, his wand lost in the sea of her long red hair, which was slowly but surely turning a deep black.

Adam had been wise enough to show up already in costume, something that must've taken more than a few hours to make. He had decided to go as a dragon for some reason, and as if that wasn't unusual enough, he had decided that instead of dressing up as one, he would become one. Adam Reed was a brilliant wizard and his costume that night reflected that—he had transfigured his body to have the typical characteristics of a Hungarian Horntail: black scales, bronze horns sticking up from his now bald head and similarly coloured spikes running through his forearms and back. He had even gone through the trouble of changing both the shape and colour of his eyes and adding small wings to his back.