The Light in the Dark | Neville Longbottom

Chapter 15: Come On Eileen

*CW: Alcoholism*

October 31st, 1995 - 8:00pm

Ginny, Hermione, and I got dressed for the party in the fifth-year girl's dorm. We were going as the trio from "Clueless" - a popular muggle film that was released over the summer. The three of us dressed as the character we resembled the most: I was "Cher", Hermione was "Dionne", and Ginny was "Tai".

"So, what do you think?" I beamed, swinging open the bathroom door and posing in the doorway.

"Dawn, say the words!" Ginny begged as she finished with her hair.

"Yeah! Say the line from the film!" Hermione exclaimed, "Say, ugh, as if!"

"Okay, give me one second to find my best American accent," I joked before I coughed to clear my throat, "Alright... ugh, as if!"

The three of us bursted into laughter as I closed the bathroom door. Ginny had spent the last two hours teasing and curling her hair to mimic her character. Hermione, on the other hand, gave up on her hair about thirty minutes in. Angelina offered to help Hermione with the braids, but Hermione (stubborn as she was) refused, and told her that she was "more than capable" of doing it herself. Obviously, Hermione wasn't, so she kept her hair curly for the party.

"Do you two think I should wear the hat?" Hermione questioned sheepishly, "It's a lot..."

I hastily nodded my head, "'Mione, you must wear the hat! Your costume is incomplete without it!"

Hermione sighed before placing the hat on her head, "It doesn't look bad, does it?"

Ginny shook her head, "No, you look great, 'Mione!"

Hermione stood a little taller after Ginny's comment, smiling at the two of us. Maybe it was because I was pureblood, and knew almost nothing about muggle culture or fashion, but all our outfits seemed a bit too much. In all my years of living, I have never worn this many layers for one outfit. Ginny and Hermione were enjoying themselves though, so I went along with it.

Once the three of us had finished dressing, we headed downstairs to the party. Even before we reached the common room, the music boomed through the walls.

"JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP!" We heard the students shout, singing along to the song on the radio.

The common room looked entirely different from when we last saw it. All the lights had been shut off, except for a couple of red and orange strobe lights in the corners of the room. The cobwebs I had spent all afternoon hanging up looked spectacular in the lighting.

Ginny was the first to react, immediately running off the second we stepped off the staircase. I yelled after her, but she did not hear me - the music was too loud. With the lights off, it was hard to see where she had run off too. The first person I saw in the darkness was Fred Weasley, who was dancing on a table with a bottle of firewhisky in his hand. The second person I saw was Hermione, who had also just seen Fred.

I placed a reassuring hand on Hermione's shoulder as she stepped forward, "It's okay, 'Mione, he's not doing anything dangerous at the moment!"

"Dawn, are you blind?" Hermione asked rudely, pointing to Fred, and furrowing her eyebrows, "He's dancing on tables with alcohol in his hands! I cannot let this behavior continue! Imagine if we got caught!"

"It's Halloween though, 'Mione!" I whined, wanting her to drop the topic, "Can't we just have fun?"

"If you've forgotten, I'm a prefect!" Hermione protested, "I said no alcohol for this exact reason! If I do not put an end to this situation, and we're caught, I will get blamed... and my prefect pin will be taken away- No... No, I cannot let this continue! DAWN, I CANNOT LET THIS CONTINUE!"