Loyalties | Barty Crouch Jr

Hallowe'en

October 31, 1978 - Tuesday

Excitement bounced off the corridor walls as students eagerly made their way to their classes. It was the end of October, which meant one thing. Hallowe'en had finally come. Which also meant, parties.

However, between music so deafening you have to be able to read lips in order to communicate, and the incredibly drunk students stumbling around and acting like gits, they weren't exactly Leonora's idea of fun. Though, she somehow managed to always let herself get dragged along to them.

"Are you going to the party tonight?" Illyria asked the girl as they sat together in the Room of Requirement, finishing up their homework in a room Leonora hadn't initially recognized. Turns out, it was the rather small library at Francis's house.

Leonora sighed, dropping her quill and facing the girl, a frown present on her face. "You know I'd rather not. I'm sure Barty will drag me along though."

"I suppose that's true. He usually does and you have a hard time saying no to him, for obvious reasons," she wiggled her eyebrows, a wide grin on her face.

Leonora rolled her eyes playfully, a light blush on her cheeks, before turning back to her work. "I presume you'll be with Francis?"

Now it was Illyria's turn to blush. "Yes, though I'm not sure what we'll be doing. He wanted to bring me to a Hufflepuff party, but I don't know if that's the best idea. What if someone there says something to a Slytherin and Thalia finds out?"

"Yeah, although, how many Slytherins are actually friends with any of the Hufflepuffs? Not many, and I doubt any of them would rat you out. Aren't they supposed to be kind, or something?"

Illyria thought for a moment, biting her lip as she did so. "So, you think I should go? Francis said it's a costume party, I do think that'd be fun. He said you dress up for them."

"I'd say if you really want to, then yes. You can even wear a mask. And" Leonora glanced up from her work, "you can always threaten to hex them if you think they'd say something."

"Merlin, Nora, has Thalia possessed you or something? That's what she'd suggest."

Leonora raised her hands defensively, dropping her quill once again. "Hey, in some situations, it's a pretty good suggestion."

Illyria rolled her eyes as Leonora chuckled softly, both turning back to their work.

.........................................................

Like Illyria had predicted, Leonora could not say no to Barty when he begged her to come to the party. He had spent the entire Hallowe'en feast listing off all of the reasons she should attend and convincing her of how much of a fun time she would have.

In the end, he had broken her enough to agree.

Illyria, on the other hand, had spent her entire Hallowe'en feast getting grilled by Thalia about where she would be if she wasn't at the party or in their dorm. Leonora, getting grilled by Barty, couldn't come to the girl's rescue and defend her. Thankfully, Regulus had, telling the girl that it didn't matter and to lay off.

In usual Thalia fashion, the girl had gotten angry and stormed out of the Great Hall mid feast, dragging an annoyed Evan along with her. The rest of the feast after was rather pleasant.