PRAETERITUS - 𝕊𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕦𝕤 𝔹𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕤 𝔻𝕒𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕖𝕣

14 - Meeting with a Bride

꧁•⊹٭𝟷𝟺 𝙼𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚎٭⊹•꧂

As the weeks passed, the leaves turned orange and blanketed the ground in a sea of amber. Despite Adrian's nerves, he and Olivia grew closer by the day, their friendship strengthened. She had also become closer to Fred, neither of them quite sure what had happened at the party, but teasing the other for it anyway.

To her annoyance, she had come no closer to finding out what Sirius and James were accusing Snape of. It seemed an impossible feat; she had to figure out what was going on in their minds. Short of breaking in their rooms, she had no clue how she would do it. And she was pretty sure the teachers quarters were spelled, so there goes that plan.

On the upside, to the relief of most Slytherins the green hair dye had finally washed out. Mia, however, had taken a liking to the colour and decided to dye it back. 

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Amy asked, looking dubiously at Olivia's potion.

"Hey! I followed a school recipe this time."

"Of course I want to. I miss my green."

"I don't. It looked awful." Freya scoffed.

"Speak for yourself. I looked hot."

At that, Mia downed the potion in a few swigs. And then, after a terrifying pause, her hair morphed into the same neon green. Mia whooped in victory as Amy gave her begrudging approval.

"You should have done it orange really, for Halloween and all." Olivia interjected.

It turned out that the wizarding world had no concept of Halloween. Perhaps they found it offensive that people imitated them with green skin and a pointy hat. Nevertheless, Olivia had taken the liberty to mention it at every possible moment just to annoy them. She had leaned into the holiday fully, decorating around their dorm with transfigured pumpkins and paper bats.

The day was fast approaching and she wondered what she could do for it. She had to do something after all her fanfare in the leadup. Perhaps she'd have to enlist the help of a certain set of twins.

"I still don't get Halloween. Why would you dress up as something scary and go to strangers houses?" Amy queried, bewildered.

"Because it's fun," Olivia said it as though it were obvious, "And you can scare all the kids."

"I would pay to see the first years spend a night with Halloween." Mia muttered, causing Olivia to laugh at her incorrect phrasing.

"I've got to agree with that one. I just don't get why they run around everywhere. One nearly ran into me before charms today." Amy sighed.

"I heard there's a first year Hufflepuff that's been taking clothes to the elves," Freya inputted, "It's pretty disgraceful."

"What? Where did you hear that?" Mia was intrigued.

"One of the pictures told me. The man in the bowler hat next to the stairway that leads to the kitchens."

"The picture's are such gossipers. Who knows if what they say is true." Mia dismissed her claim.

The pictures. Olivia had had a few interactions with them in the past, and from what she knew Olivia's statement rung true. Having nothing better to do, they seemed to relish in knowledge, which they often exaggerated. But for some reason the mention of them seemed to niggle in her mind. Like the annoying buzz when you know you're forgetting something.

She shot up. The pictures! Quickly excusing herself in the most inconspicuous way she could, she set out towards the teachers dorms. To her dismay, there were less pictures in the area, a few scattered across the hallway. She surveyed the possibilities. A large woman with a small barking dog. A suited man with a carefully pointed moustache. A group of violinists. A teen girl in a wedding dress, looking far too young and far too sad for the garment.