Petunia had just finished her tutoring session in the library and was packing up her notes when she spotted Emmeline and Pandora waiting for her by the arched window alcove. The autumn sun was fading quickly, casting long golden shadows across the stone floor.
Pandora looked especially excited never a good sign.
"There you are!" she chirped as Petunia joined them. "Guess what? Nearly Headless Nick invited me to his Deathday party!"
Petunia blinked. "He did?"
"Yes," Pandora said proudly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "And I told him I'd bring guests. So obviously, I'm bringing you two."
Emmeline groaned. "You do realize that's on Halloween Eve, right? The feast in the Great Hall is going to be divine. Warm pumpkin pasties, spiced cider, treacle tart..."
"Yes, but I already promised him," Pandora insisted, looking between them with wide, pleading eyes. "And he said he'd saved us good seats by the haunted harpist."
Petunia raised an amused brow. "That doesn't sound like the most thrilling evening, Dora."
Pandora turned to her dramatically. "Petunia. Please. Back me up. Convince Emmy. I cannot go to a ghost party alone."
Petunia bit back a smile, glancing at Emmeline's unimpressed face. "Maybe we can stop by for a bit?" she suggested. "Say hello, make a polite appearance, then slip back to the feast before dessert."
Pandora brightened instantly, hopeful.
"And," Petunia added with a sly grin, "we'll drag the three boys with us. No way we're doing this alone."
Emmeline arched an eyebrow. "You mean Felix, Severus, and Andrew? Good luck convincing them."
Petunia linked her arm with Emmeline's and said sweetly, "Oh, I'm not asking. I'm telling."
Emmeline sighed with exaggerated drama. "Fine. But only because Felix deserves to suffer for calling my handwriting 'charmingly illegible'.
They all burst into laughter again, their footsteps echoing through the corridor as they made their way back toward the common room
As they entered, they spotted Severus, Andrew, and Felix seated by the window nook, deep in an intense round of Gobstones. The little marbles hissed and spat foul-smelling liquid every time someone lost a point, and judging by Felix's disgusted face, he wasn't winning.
I wandered over and dropped down beside Severus, letting out a soft sigh. "I'm tired," I murmured, and without another word, I leaned my head gently on his shoulder. A moment later, he slipped a hand into his robe pocket and pulled something out.
"Here," he said quietly, holding out a sugar quill.
I smiled up at him, touched by the familiar gesture. "Thanks, Sev."
For a few moments, I just enjoyed the quiet. Then, casually, I murmured, "By the way... Nearly Headless Nick is having a Deathday Party. Wanna go?"
Felix's head whipped around. "No. Severus, you cannot bail on us. It's Halloween. The feast, remember?"
Before Severus could respond, Pandora stepped forward with her hands on her hips. "Oh, but we planned to take all three of you with us. It's settled."
Andrew and Felix exchanged identical looks of betrayal and disbelief.
"No thanks," Andrew said flatly. "We're quite happy with pumpkin pasties and normal, living food."
"Agreed," Felix chimed in. "No offense, but ghost parties sound freezing, and tasteless."
Emmeline rolled her eyes. "You two are going. This isn't a democracy."
Felix turned to Severus, as if expecting backup. "Mate. Tell me you're not seriously going."
I sat up a little straighter, turning to Severus with my best pleading expression. "C'mon, Sev. Pandora already promised him. Just for a little while?"
I reached for his hand gently. "Please?"
Severus looked at me, clearly torn. I could see the conflict in his eyes he wasn't exactly a fan of social events, least of all ghostly ones. But I also knew something else: he never said no to me.
He sighed, "Fine. I'll go."
Felix and Andrew groaned in unison.
"Oh, come on!" Felix cried. "You never say no to her!"
I smiled sweetly at both of them. "Because I'm his best friend."
Felix slumped back. "Unfair advantage."
Severus, still holding my hand, looked at them with a resigned sigh. "If you come too, I'll let you copy my Astronomy chart."
They perked up a little, but not quite enough.
"For a week," Severus added.
Andrew and Felix grinned at each other. "Done."
....
October 31st
The six of them stood just outside the entrance to the dungeon chamber where the party was being held, the air already colder and heavier with the scent of mildew and something faintly... spectral.
"This is definitely not the Great Hall," Felix muttered, pulling his robes tighter around him. "I can already feel my soul trying to retreat."
"Stop being dramatic," Pandora said brightly, her breath fogging up in the air. "It's only mildly haunted."
The heavy doors creaked open before they could knock. A shiver ran down Petunia's spine as the sound echoed eerily, followed by a wave of icy air and the unmistakable sounds of a ghostly orchestra tuning their instruments off-key.
Inside, the chamber had been draped in black velvet and sickly silver streamers that hovered midair, gently drifting like smoke. Hundreds of ghostly guests floated about translucent and pale, dressed in the tattered finery of various centuries. The floor was damp, the lighting flickered oddly, and a long table of... food?... stood to one side.
"Well, this is cheerful," Emmeline muttered, looking at the grey, spoiled-looking salmon floating over a tarnished platter.
Felix wrinkled his nose. "That salmon is transparent."
"Ghosts like food they can pass through," Andrew said dryly, already regretting every life choice that led him here.
Nearly Headless Nick floated forward in his usual ruffled collar, beaming. "Ah! Pandora! You came!"
She curtsied dramatically. "As promised, Sir Nicholas."
Nick turned to the rest of them, smiling wide despite his wobbling, nearly severed head. "And you brought friends! Excellent, excellent. Come in, come in! Try the stinking cheese, it's been maturing since 1427!"
"I'm good," Severus said quickly, subtly shifting closer to Petunia, who was already trying not to gag from the smell wafting across the table.
Pandora, clearly the only one unfazed, grabbed two goblets of some sort of murky, shimmering drink and handed one to Emmeline, who stared at it like it might bite her.
"I don't think this is drinkable," she said flatly.
"It probably is," Pandora replied. "To someone
They all awkwardly spread out as Nick introduced them to various ghostly guests Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore, the Wailing Widow (who immediately cornered Felix and began weeping about her tragic drowning , and the Fat Friar, who insisted on telling Andrew a long-winded joke about transparent custard.
After a while, Petunia wandered toward the edge of the room with Severus, both of them sipping conjured warm cider they'd smuggled in from the kitchens. She shivered and leaned closer to him.
"I'm starting to think Emmeline was right," she whispered. "The Great Hall probably has baked pumpkin pudding by now."
Severus glanced around the room, then at her. "You still want to stay?"
She gave a soft smile. "We promised."
Nearby, Emmeline was dragging Felix out of the Wailing Widow's clutches, muttering under her breath, "Next time, we are saying no."
Felix looked pale. "She said my eyes reminded her of her husband's before he was eaten by eels."
Pandora grinned. "That means she likes you."
Andrew turned to Severus and muttered, "You're paying for this in chocolate frogs and late-night assignment help for a month."
Severus nodded solemnly. "Fair."
Then he turned to me with a mock look of suffering and said, "See the things I do for you?"
I couldn't help it I laughed, eyes crinkling as I hugged him around the middle, catching him slightly off guard.
"Thanks, Sev," I said sincerely. "You're the best."
He mumbled something under his breath, but I caught the faintest smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as he hugged me back briefly.
"Petunia," she said flatly. "Let's say our goodbyes. I want to go to the Great Hall while the pudding's still warm "
Pandora was still chatting animatedly with Nearly Headless Nick, but the rest of us were already making our slow, chilly retreat from the ghostly celebration.
I glanced one last time at the floating candles, the transparent guests, and the spectral band playing a hollow waltz. Strange as it all was, I was glad we'd come.
"Alright," I said with a smile, linking my arm with Emmeline's. "Let's go get something real to eat before Andrew passes out.
.........................................................................