PRAETERITUS - 𝕊𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕦𝕤 𝔹𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕤 𝔻𝕒𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕖𝕣

15 - An Extraordinary Halloween

꧁•⊹٭𝟷𝟻 𝙰𝚗 𝙴𝚡𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝙷𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗٭⊹•꧂

The day of Halloween had arrived.

Olivia awoke with a smile, stretching her joints contently and yawning like a cat. Her roommates didn't seem to share the same joy. They spent the morning shooting her dark looks, enshrouded in suspicion of whatever stunt she would pull. Olivia feigned obliviousness, an unusually persistent smile staining her face as she went about her ordinary activities. Ironically, it was the only day she had not yet mentioned Halloween.

"Come on Liv, just put us out of our misery already." Mia complained as they sat around breakfast.

"I'm so bloody jumpy. I almost speared a first year for walking around a corner." Adrian added.

"I don't know what you mean." She replied, innocence blurring her features.

Olivia was the only one eating, shovelling a large potion of pancakes into her mouth as the others preoccupied themselves with pinning her under their glares.

"It's not like I'm going to hurt you." She filled the silence with a sharpened grin, finally breaking her pretence, her fork angled outwards in a careless shrug.

This seemed to do little to quell their nerves. Over their shoulders her eyes met Fred's with a look of gleeful satisfaction, before turning quickly to hide her smile.

"I hate surprises." Adrian dropped his head onto the table dramatically as Amy patted his shoulder.

Her friends wary gazes followed her throughout her first classes, on the lookout for any sudden movement. In Olivia's opinion, the suspense was the delicacy of the prank. She enjoyed watching her friends unease grow as time went on and nothing happened. By lunchtime they were antsy, but had half the mind that it was all a bluff and there was no prank. At least, they were relaxed enough to allow Olivia to slip off under the guise of going to the library.

"Fancy seeing you here." George smirked as she walked through the empty corridors towards them.

Her eyes scanned over the two of them, lingering slightly on Fred's auburn hair, which was ruffled as though he had been combing his hands through it.

"What a coincidence," She tore her eyes away, replying in a deadpan voice, "you have them, right?"

"Of course we do. What do you take us for, amateurs?" Fred's eyes were locked on her as he opened the bag slung across his shoulder, allowing her to peer inside.

"Well I'll go and do my bit. Make sure you're not seen. Minnie knows about Halloween, so I'm pretty sure any teacher would detain us if they saw us sneaking around." George left, winking at the both of them.

The other two followed his path after a minute, curving around to the kitchen corridors. From here, she could hear snatches of conversation from George, who was talking to the house elves.

"- halloween decorations"

"- what do you mean you don't know -"

"- pumpkins - I'll show you."

And with that he walked the opposite way from them towards the gardens, the few dozen house elves trailing after him with slightly confused enthusiasm. When they had turned the corner, she and Fred traded a glance before sneaking into the emptied kitchen.

The kitchen was an unusual sight, with a vast, knee height table occupying the centre and shelves of ingredients lining the walls. Only a large fire lit the room, casting an eery orange glow across their faces. The table was laden with equipment abandoned in varying disarray; a half-mixed bowl of flour mixture, a tray of cupcakes fresh from the oven, a weighing scales wobbling from side to side. Olivia had assumed the food was magically made - transfigured or something - and felt somewhat bad over the elves labour.