A/N: tryna speed run this year with good plot so next year can be juicy af :3 (i promise i wont take another 5 month hiatus after this year).
October arrived, spreading a damp chill over the grounds and into the castle. Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, was kept busy by a sudden spate of colds among the staff and students. Her Pepperup potion worked instantly, though it left the drinker smoking at the ears for several hours afterward.
Raindrops the size of bullets thundered on the castle windows for days on end; the lake rose, the flower beds turned into muddy streams, and Hagrid's pumpkins swelled to the size of garden sheds.
As the end of the month rolled around, Pansy had forced Aly to come with her to Nearly Headless Nick's deathday party. Millicent and Tracy were busy with Draco and his goons, while Daphne just wanted to sleep.
It was an incredible sight. The dungeon was full of hundreds of pearly-white, translucent people, mostly drifting around a crowded dance floor, waltzing to the dreadful, quavering sound of thirty musical saws, played by an orchestra on a raised, black-draped platform. A chandelier overhead blazed midnight-blue with a thousand more black candles. Their breath rose in a mist before them; it was like stepping into a freezer.
"Shall we have a look around?" Aly suggested, wanting to warm up her feet.
"Careful not to walk through anyone," said Pansy, and they set off around the edge of the dance floor. They passed a group of gloomy nuns, a ragged man wearing chains, and the Fat Friar, a cheerful Hufflepuff ghost, who was talking to a knight with an arrow sticking out of his forehead. Aly wasn't surprised to see that the Bloody Baron, a gaunt, staring Slytherin ghost covered in silver bloodstains, was being given a wide berth by the other ghosts.
Another thing she noticed, was Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Mad, on the other side of the room. She didn't realize she was staring till Madi noticed her and flagged her down. She made her way towards the Gryffindors, waving at Pansy to follow —who was making a pained expression at the thought of talking to Gryffindors.
"Aly! What brings you here?" Harry asked excitedly.
"This one," she said, pointing to her Slytherin friend. He turned to look at Pansy and his expression slightly dropped, nodding silently.
"Well..." Madi said, breaking the awkward silence, "would you guys like to come for a walk?"
"Sure, we'd love to," Aly shrugged. There were groans of complaint from both parties as soon as she said that. Words like: "I do NOT want to," and "Another Slytherin?" Were said simultaneously. Aly rolled her eyes, "just try and get along, okay? Be nice," she said, mostly to Pansy; who just rolled her eyes in response.
Harry thought long and hard about it, but decided to agree to it (for Aly). They continued walking until Hermione spoke up.
"Oh, no," she said, stopping abruptly. "Turn back, turn back, I don't want to talk to Moaning Myrtle,"
"Who?" said Harry as they backtracked quickly.
"She haunts one of the toilets in the girls' bathroom on the first floor," said Hermione.
"She haunts a toilet?" Pansy asked in disbelief.
"Yes. It's been out-of-order all year because she keeps having tantrums and flooding the place. I never went in there anyway if I could avoid it; it's awful trying to have a pee with her wailing at you,"
"Look, food!" said Ron.
"You eat so much," Pansy stated in a snarky tone, but she was more impressed than anything.
