𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙵𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗|| James Potter

08.

Halloween isn't something Rhea celebrated until the age of eleven.

The Black family would never stoop so low to celebrate something so muggle. So Rhea always celebrated Samhain.

Rhea prefers Samhain to Halloween, maybe it's because it is something she adored as a child. She absolutely loved it when it came to the 31st October. The whole Black family get together to celebrate as a family.

It's one of the rare moments when they actually act as a family.

Rhea remembers going to her uncle Orion's fathers manor every Samhain. Arcturus Black holds them every year, it's probably the only thing she misses about home is not being able to go. The fire roared in the back garden, Rhea and her sisters or cousins dancing around it, giggling to each other.

It was never an usual Black family ball, probably why she loves it so much. It's strictly family, so they have no one to act for.

Rhea remembers her first Halloween, Kathleen has always celebrated it. Kathleen sat with her and Evan and shared her traditions with them, when they weren't able to do their own.

Kathleen, somehow, had managed to get pumpkins. They sat out by the Black lake for hours while she taught the two how to carve them. There is only one way to ever describe Rhea and Evans' attempts to carve pumpkins.

They were utter shite.

Kathleen has never let them live it down. So Rhea and Evan watch Kathleen carve a pumpkin, like her mum taught her to do, every year.

On many occasions she tries to persuade them to try again. Evan and Rhea are always quick to turn her offer down. They aren't getting that messy again, only for it to fail.

So as always they sit and watch as Kathleen carves her pumpkin.

Rhea lays on her front with her head in her hands as she watches her best friend. Evan is leaning on his hands with his eyebrows furrowed as he tries to work out how Kath does it.

Kathleen sits crossed legged looking at the pumpkin in concentration, she has yet to decide what she is carving this year.

Rhea smiles slightly as a look on Kathleen's face appears; she knows that look. Kathleen has finally decided.

So for the next half an hour they all sat there in a content silence with the background noise of the rest of the castle. Or of the animals around them.

As Rhea's eyes begin to shut she hears Evan let out a sigh, as she opens her eyes to look at what's bothering him, two boys shadow over her.

Rhea smiles at one, seemingly happy to ignore the other's existence. "Hello, Remus."

"Hello, Rhea, how are you?"

"Fine, thank you. Are you feeling better?"

Remus awkwardly shifts his feet, not meeting her eyes. "Oh yeah, I'm fine now, thank you though."

Rhea bites her bottom lip to stop herself from asking where his new scar on his shoulder that drags out to the open part of his shirt, has come from.

Rhea looks at the other boy, she could admit she had been ignoring him since their trip to the kitchen. She still hates him but she's honestly bored. Bored of hating people. Bored of feeling like her family.

Her mother hates most people, Bella hates even more people. Cissy doesn't hate. It's below her to feel such a thing. But she feels disgusted by most.

Her grandparents hated everyone from her vague memory of them. They died when she was only little but the memories from dinners with them remained and all they ever did was discuss how much they hated things. Muggles, muggleborns, half bloods, blood traitors, house elves, any magical creature really.