The 101 of Working With Your Enemy

Chapter 8

Growing up, Halloween used to be my favourite holiday. I loved dressing up as the villains from the books I read, even though no one ever knew who I was supposed to be. From a young age on, I watched scary movies and made it my tradition to rewatch the ones I liked most on the days before Halloween. It brought me into the Halloween spirit and made me even more excited. The sweets were just a nice side effect.

I'd loved lighting scented candles that filled the house with warmth and spices, building snow wizards, and warming myself up in front of the fire place while reading a book. Each year, it was my highlight, and it occupied me to the extent that I didn't think about Christmas at all. Christmas had always been my least favourite holiday. It was supposed to be spent with your family, but to me, it was only a reminder of the family I had lost.

The orphanage I grew up in wasn't bad. Actually, it was a place full of good memories. We had a great feast every year and in the morning we'd unwrapped gifts together. The other kids had quickly become something like family to me, but when I went to bed in the evenings, I still imagined how my life would have been with my parents.

Now, I enjoyed neither Christmas nor Halloween. Both events were tied to moments I wanted to forget desperately. My parents being killed by Death Eaters on Christmas Eve and the events that took place on Halloween last year had left wounds that hadn't healed quite yet.

My friends didn't agree with my negative feelings. Scarlet had been talking about the upcoming Halloween party hosted by the Ravenclaws for days now. She'd picked out her costume, which was some kind of vampire slayer girl from one of the TV shows she loved so much. I was told that she would watch the show with me once we were at her house during Christmas break.

When I entered the Slytherin common room this afternoon, I spotted Pansy sitting on one of the small couches, books spread out around her. She waved at me and I joined her, dropping down next to her and pulling my legs under my body.

"Are these all for the DADA project?" I asked.

She nodded. "Nott is fetching more right now. At this rate, we will never finish the project. There are too many books to read and too little time." With a thud, she closed the book that lay on top of her legs and threw it aside. "Tell me, how is it going with Draco? I'm surprised you didn't try to kill each other yet."

"Trust me, I was close to choking him. Although, we've narrowed down our search to a handful of books. Otherwise, we'll never be done." Somehow, I decided not to tell her about our visit to the Restricted Section. It was not as if she would tell on us, but I kept that day closed behind lock and key.

"Sounds like we deserve a break. Are you going to the Ravenclaws Halloween party tonight?" Pansy asked, switching the topic.

"Luna invited me, but I don't think I will go. I've been feeling bad ever since this morning," I lied. "I'll just stay here and read a little more."

Pansy raised one eyebrow at me. "You're kidding, right? Last year you went too. What happened to us going as a group this year?"

"I simply don't feel good, Parkinson," I snapped. "Can we just drop it?"

She shrugged and instead went on to talk about a new design of hers. Pansy was incredibly talented in design and fashion, and I was sure that she'd pursue it professionally one day. We were interrupted when Theo appeared next to us, dropping a stack of books onto the table in front of us, and grumbling something about Madam Pince.

                              —————————

Hours later I was sitting on the couch closest to the fireplace, fuzzy blue socks on my feet, matching with my blue sweater. The school uniform skirt was the only thing that I hadn't changed out of due to a lack of clean trousers and the motivation to search up the spell that would do it.