She Said What?

Chapter 16: I Go to the Halloween Party

A/N: Happily, the "Halloween Party Chronicles" from last chapter appeared to be very well-received by you guys – which is great, because I was planning on doing another one when Valentine's Day comes around. Huzzah!

The party is going to span two entries – the first (this one) is where the action happens and the second is all repercussions. Hope you enjoy it!

October 31

4:30 PM
Status: Weary

Well...Happy Halloween, I suppose.

Today is Saturday, the day of the highly anticipated Halloween party. It's supposed to start at seven, so of course we girls have to start getting ready now, so that we look perfect by the time seven approaches and our dates come to take us away. Literally – there are no girls in the common room right now. I would know, because I checked.

I'm in the dormitory right now with Alice and Livvy. They, like all the Gryffindor girls in our year, are preparing for the party. The bloody Marauders didn't specify if they wanted us to dress up or not, but it's a custom that most people do, so there's a lot of experimental Transfiguration passing around us.

Livvy has refused, point-blank, to wear a costume. It's enough of a miracle that she's going at all to force her to do anything else, so Alice reluctantly keeps her mouth shut as Livvy slips into a tiny strapless black dress. She's got a true hourglass figure – nice-sized shoulders, a ridiculously thin waist and significant curves – and the dress makes her tiny arse look especially nice. Alice and I have coaxed her hair out of its usual elastic and left it, curly as it is, loose on her shoulders. She looks lovely and is currently sitting beside me, complaining that she hates having her hair down.

Alice, on the other hand, is having a lot of fun with the idea of a party. Alice lives for such spectacles – she's restless and very easily bored with routines, the exact opposite of me – and she keeps her collection of dresses with her at Hogwarts for this exact reason. Costumes are out of the question for her, too. For tonight, she chose the best dress of the lot – it's plain and deep Gryffindor red, but it displays Alice's curves and cleavage to their best advantage. She is like me – we are both not particularly gifted in either department like Livvy is and we have to rely on fabric trickery to look half as curvy.

Me, I'm not ready yet. At present, I'm actually supposed to be looking for something to wear, but I've kind of given up on that. I don't own much party wear – I like jeans too much – and I'm not the same size as my friends, so I can't borrow anything of theirs. I don't much feel like going anymore, to tell you the truth, but I swore to Alice I'd go and if I raise a fuss, Livvy certainly will too and Alice would have to go alone, which she wouldn't appreciate. So I'm kind of stuck.

I guess I'll just put on my blue dress and be done with it. It's not particularly sexy, like Livvy or Alice's dresses – it's a halter that reaches down to my knees and it's not very tight – but it's all I've got. I'll hide behind my friends if I have to – which won't be hard.

Alice is calling Livvy and me up to the bathroom. She's finally snagged a mirror and insists she must do our make-up for us. This sounds ominous, but I figure I'll humor her. Plus, I'm the only one who can convince Livvy this is not suicidal.

I'd better go. I'll write again after the party.

11:30 PM
Status: Utterly exhausted

Back from the party now. Merlin's beard, what a night it has been.

You know how people tell you that most of the time, you don't know what the most significant day of your life is until a lot of time afterwards, when you've had the time to reflect on it? Well, tonight I discovered that there are scenarios where actually, you know immediately that this is a significant day in your life, and the realization leaves you completely frazzled.