In the Melancholy Moonlight

Chapter CXXXIX: Life's No Fun Without a Good Scare

Say it once, say it twice
Take a chance and roll the dice
Ride with the moon in the dead of night
Everybody scream, everybody scream
In our town of Halloween

I am the clown with the tear-away face
Here in a flash and gone without a trace
I am the "who" when you call, "Who's there?"
I am the wind blowing through your hair
I am the shadow on the moon at night
Filling your dreams to the brim with fright
This is Halloween, this is Halloween

Tender lumplings everywhere
Life's no fun without a good scare
That's our job, but we're not mean
In our town of Halloween
In this town
Don't we love it now?
Everybody is waiting for the next surprise

"This is Halloween"
From The Nightmare Before Christmas

LUCY:

My Halloween morning started with a bat flying directly at my face.

I screamed, of course, and swatted it away. Coincidentally, it collided directly with the most likely person to send the winged fiend my way: Fred Weasley. But, to my immense disappointment, he didn't react the same way I did. Instead, he transfigured the bat back into a fluffy white quill and tossed it to George, who was standing a couple feet behind him and looking between Fred with disbelief and me with concern.

"Good morning, Cub," Fred said cheerfully.

For a moment, I was paralyzed by fear. I had forgotten exactly how much I hated bats. But once the moment passed, I started to laugh. It seemed silly to be terrified of bats when I had been tortured in caves over summer.

"Fred Weasley, you are a menace," I replied, shaking my head and glancing around the common room for the first time. "Merlin. Were you two up all night doing this?"

"Indeed we were! We would have set up a maze, too, but my darling girlfriend scheduled Quidditch practice for tonight so we will be otherwise occupied after the feast."

"You've done well with what you did set up," I said. It was true. I walked along the wall, admiring the various masks. Some flashed between orange and red and black and purple and green with no apparent pattern, others made guttural rasping sounds supposed to mimic breathing, and one screamed directly in my face. I jumped back and turned to face the twins; Fred was laughing again, and George winced from where he had precariously perched himself on the back of an armchair a safe distance away.

I was breathless from being startled, but I smiled after a moment. "That one packs quite a punch, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, sorry, forgot to warn you about that one," George said, stifling a yawn.

"It's alright, still better than the bloody bat." I headed over to the armchair and sat on the part of the seat intended for sitting, using George's dangling feet as resting places for my elbows. I tipped my head back and grinned up at him. "You know, most people sit on the cushion of the chair, not the top."

"Well, I'm not most people," he replied with a grin. He glanced up and laughed. "Incoming."

Before I had time to react, Fred landed on top of me. He sighed dramatically and leaned back, pushing me deeper into the chair. "Merlin's pants, am I tired! I'm so glad I have a comfortable chair where I can rest my aching bones."

I tried to push him off of me, but it was in vain. He was a Beater. I was a Chaser, and an out-of-shape one at that. Still, I pushed and pushed and pushed, protesting, "Fred Weasley, get off of me!"