Chapter 5

"Boys and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to see something strange?" Lily sang softly to herself as she finished getting dressed. It was Friday morning, and for once she didn't mind too much that she had classes. After all, today was Halloween, so it put her in a good mood.

"Come with us and you will see, this, our town of Halloween," Rose continued the song, startling Lily. The dark-haired girl seemed amused.

"I didn't think anyone heard me singing," Lily admitted as the two girls left the room. "Wait, you've seen Nightmare Before Christmas?"

"Yep, I love that movie," Rose said with a smile. "I wish TVs or laptops worked here at Hogwarts. It's gonna be weird not watching that movie like I usually do on Halloween."

"I think it'll be weirder to not go trick-or-treating," Lily pointed out with a laugh.

"Imagine if there was trick-or-treating here. Can you picture going up to one of the professors and asking for candy?" Rose suggested as they entered the common room, her dark blue eyes shining with mirth. Lily pictured going up to Professor Montgomery, the sometimes rather mean Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and asking him for candy. The mental image made her burst out laughing.

"What's so funny, little Lily?" Alexander Ackerman asked. He and Zackary Tank were both sprawled across one of the couches.

"Your existence," Lily teased. In the past few weeks she had really started to feel more comfortable around some of her fellow Slytherins. Alex and Zack, for whatever reason, liked to hangout with Lily from time to time, despite them being fourth years and her just being a first year. They didn't treat her like she was some annoying kid, which she appreciated.

"Ouch, that hurts. I like to think of my existence as one of the miracles of this world," Alex responded. Zack snorted, and Alex punched his best friend.

"Hey, are you guys gonna be at the party tonight?" Zack asked Lily and Rose.

"Yeah, why not? It sounds like it'll be fun," Lily answered.

"How do you guys never get caught?" Rose questioned. "I've heard the parties here can get pretty crazy."

"Well, the 7th years usually do some Silencing spells around the common room, plus Slughorn is usually willing to look the other way as long as we make sure no other teachers find out," Alex explained. "That's why you have to be careful about who you tell. You're more than welcome to invite people from other houses, but they need to be able to keep their mouths shut."

"Are you gonna invite your cousin?" Rose asked Lily. Lily didn't even have to ask which cousin she meant. After all, there was only one who currently went out of her way to spend time with Lily. Things were still pretty weird between her and most of her family. Teddy, in his letters, assured her that everyone would get over the surprise of her being in Slytherin by Christmas. She wasn't too sure on that, though.

"Yeah, I think I will. Who knows if she'll come, though," Lily said. "Let's go to breakfast, and I'll ask her if I see her. Are you guys coming?"

"I don't know. This couch is pretty comfy. I kind of want to stay here forever," Zack admitted. "Getting up and going to the hall sounds like a lot of effort."

"Dude, I feel you. Why does this place have so many stairs?" Alex complained. The two first year girls rolled their eyes at the laziness of their upperclassmen.

"I really don't know how you two can be so lazy, yet you're also in good shape," Lily commented.

"When we're motivated, nothing can stop us," Alexander explained. Well, whatever worked for them, she supposed.

"Suit yourselves. We're leaving. See you later, if you ever make it out of here," Lily told them. They lazily waved goodbye, and the two girls left without them.

They reached the Great Hall a few minutes later, and they headed over to the Ravenclaw table, where Dominique was sitting with the Scamander twins as usual.

"Hey, Lily!" Lorcan noticed her first and greeted her. "And you're her friend Rose, right?"

"Hi, Lor!" Lily greeted the blonde boy, while Rose answered his question. "Hey, Dom, Slytherin is having a party tonight. You're welcome to come if you want, I'll give you the directions and password."

"A party, huh? I've heard of the famous Slytherin parties," Dominique seemed slightly intrigued. "Sure, I'll check it out. Can these two come?"

Lily and Rose glanced at each other and then both shrugged. "Why not? Neither of you have had any problems with Slytherin, right?" Lily asked the two brothers.

"Nope! We've been cool with with the snakes," Lorcan assured her. Lily believed him. She knew that he was the type of person that easily got along with everyone, and she'd never heard anyone in her house say anything bad about him. Lysander was equally kind, though a lot more quiet than his brother. Neither of them would cause any trouble with Slytherin house.

Lily gave her cousin and the twins the information regarding the party, and then she and Rose left to go eat breakfast with their fellow Slytherins. Everyone was in good spirits today, and even Ava and Gilbert managed to keep their bickering to a minimal amount. The party that night was the subject of most conversations, and Lily was fully aware that nobody would be paying attention in classes today.

Sure enough, none of the professors could truly get their students to focus today. Everyone was simply too excited. The professors assumed they were just eager for the feast, of course. None of them knew the truth. Slytherins were good at keeping secrets, after all. The day managed to pass by fairly quickly, and soon it was time for the feast.

Everyone marvelled at how amazing the Great Hall looked for Halloween. As Lily looked around at all the different decorations, she couldn't help but think about how much she loved this holiday. There was just something so fun about Halloween. It had always been her favorite holiday when she was younger, and it still held true now.

"There's so much food, this is so awesome," Gilbert commented as the first years sat down at the table.

"Of course that's what you care about," Ava criticized. "I don't know how you haven't gotten fat yet."

"Come on guys, don't start that now. Let's just have fun, alright?" Luke interjected. Gilbert chose to listen to his friend and didn't rise to Ava's bait, much to everyone's relief.

"Let's just hurry up and eat so we can get to the party," Alana suggested. "I'm super excited for it!"

Those in Slytherin who had older siblings all nodded in agreement. They'd all heard many stories about Slytherin parties. Lily wondered for a moment what it would be like if one of her brothers had been in Slytherin. She would've been accepted a lot sooner, and would've already known what to expect. It would have been nice to have someone looking out for her, perhaps. But then she looked around, at all of her friends, and at the older students like Scorpius, Alex and Zack, who all looked out for her despite her being the little sister of their enemies, and she knew that she wouldn't want to change a thing about her life right now. She didn't need any family members in her house, because her house was her family.

After a while, students started getting up and leaving the feast. Blaine Zabini, the seventh year Slytherin perfect, got up from where he was sitting with his friends, and walked over to the first years. "Any of you who invited someone from another house should go get them now, and bring them to the common room, unless they've already been there before," he told them. "I trust that you've all been careful in choosing your guests. I'll see you all there."

"I guess that's our cue to go get your cousin and her friends," Rose said to Lily. The two girls bade goodbye to their friends, and made their way over to the Ravenclaw table.

"Hello, ladies," Lorcan greeted the first years with a grin. "Is it time to go?"

"Yep. Are you ready to enter the snake pit?" Rose asked the Ravenclaws.

"I think so. I'm ready to see what all the fuss is about," Dominique replied. The three Ravenclaws got up from the table, and the group left the hall. They all chatted about their day as they walked to the Slytherin common room. The topic drifted toward Quidditch, which was to be expected when 3 out of 5 of them played on a house team.

"I can't believe they cancelled practice today," Lorcan complained. He was very passionate about Quidditch, and hated it whenever practice had to be cancelled. Lily was sure he'd be the team captain someday for his house.

"Yeah, that kind of sucks, but at least we're going to a party," Dominique said with a shrug. "We'll make up for it tomorrow, anyway."

"I can't wait to learn how to play," Rose admitted. "It looks like so much fun."

"What position are you interested in?" Dominique asked the younger girl. Rose looked slightly surprised at being addressed. The two hadn't yet had very many interactions.

"I think I'd like being a chaser," the raven haired girl answered after a moment.

Dominique gave her a searching look, and then nodded. "Good choice. Have Lily bring you to the Burrow this summer. We'll teach you how to play."

"Oh man, she's gonna be eaten alive there," Lorcan laughed. Dominique rolled her eyes, and Rose looked slightly concerned.

"You'll be fine. Don't listen to my brother," Lysander spoke up. "Grandma Molly will keep all the kids from picking on you."

Lily smiled at hearing him refer to her grandma that way. Molly Weasley had a big heart, and was always adopting people into the family. The Scamanders had definitely been to the Burrow a fair amount while growing up, and considered her grandma to be their own. She was certain that her grandma would welcome Rose easily, regardless of her being a Slytherin. She was Lily's friend, and that's all that would matter.

"Well, then I'd love to go," Rose told them. "I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun."

"Speaking of fun, we're almost there," Lily told the Ravenclaws. They rounded one more corner, and the two youngest girls led the way to the patch of wall where the entrance was located. Lily quietly spoke the password, and the entrance to the common room opened up. Right away loud music and lots of voices could be heard.

They all stepped inside, and Lily looked around in amazement. The common room had been rearranged so the couches were more off to the side, leaving the center of the room open as a dancefloor. There were tables lining the wall with food and drinks, including a table with alcoholic beverages. The kids had been warned that there was an enchantment done to keep the younger students away, and not to mention the older ones would be keeping a close eye on them. There were teenagers dancing, others were kicking back on the couches and drinking, and there were younger students all snacking on candy and soda. No matter what the age, there was something for everyone, and everyone seemed to be having a good time.

At the center of it all, Alexander and Zackary were dancing very closely together. Lily actually felt a bit embarrassed to watch them. She couldn't see the appeal in their actions, but she figured it was just one of those things that would make sense to her in a few more years. Right now, she had no desire to do whatever it was that they were doing.

"Lots of pretty girls here tonight," Lorcan commented, looking around the room.

"Careful, they might bite," a familiar voice said. Scorpius had made his way over to their little group, and was looking at the newcomers with a curious expression. "Scorpius Malfoy," he introduced himself.

"Hey, Scorpius. I'm Lorcan Scamander. You're a pretty good Chaser," Lorcan complimented. "It's a fun challenge to play against Slytherin."

"And you're a very capable Beater," Scorpius responded. "Then you must be Lysander. You're a worthy opponent yourself."

"Thank you," Lysander said with an embarrassed smile.

"And then there's the Ravenclaw Weasley. I don't think we've ever crossed paths before," Scorpius commented.

"Well, according to my cousins, you're just about the worst person ever," Dominique's tone made it clear how little she actually cared what her relatives thought. "You don't seem all that evil. In fact, you're not really intimidating at all."

"Oh, come on, now you're just being rude," Scorpius feigned at being hurt. "I went through all that work to get my reputation, and now you're just blowing it off."

Dominique rolled her eyes, but Lily caught the small smile that she gave Scorpius. Lily felt relieved that this first interaction so far had gone well. If they had Scorpius's approval, that was a pretty good start. He may only be a 3rd year, but he was already quite popular in their house. His opinion counted.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Ravenclaws. Lily, Rose, if you guys need anything, just let me know," Scorpius told the two girls. "Now, go on and enjoy the party!"

Lorcan dragged Lysander off to watch him flirt with Slytherin girls. Dominique stayed with her cousin for a while, but at some point she wandered off to go talk to some people in her year. Lily and Rose decided to go see the girls in their year.

Alana and Melanie were drinking butterbeer and eating some sweets as they talked to each other. Lily and Rose each grabbed a butterbeer and sat down with them.

"Where's Ava?" Lily wondered. It was unusual to see those two without her.

"Oh, she's with her sister," Alana answered. She pointed off to a more secluded part of the common room, where the two sisters were leaning against the wall and talking quietly. "I think Callie got a bit overwhelmed."

Lily couldn't help but feel bad for the shy Ravenclaw. As far as she knew, Callie hadn't really bonded with the girls in her year, and she tended to be on her own. She saw Rose watching the girl with a thoughtful look, before she turned to Lily.

"Why don't you introduce Callie to Dominique?" Rose suggested. "Do you think she'd be willing to take Callie under her wing, like the Scamanders did for her?"

Lily thought about it for a moment. Dominique could come off as intimidating, so she wasn't sure if that would mesh well with Callie's shy attitude. But Dominique wasn't a cruel person. She thought that, maybe, her cousin would want to help out another outcast. It just might work out.

"Let's go ask her," Lily decided. The two of them wandered back into the crowd to try to find her. It didn't take too long to spot her, considering she had long, red hair. "Dom!"

Dominique looked around, and spotted Lily and Rose. She walked over to them with a questioning look in her eyes. "Yeah?" she asked.

"There's a girl in our year who has a sister in Ravenclaw. Her sister still hasn't made any friends. Would you be willing to meet her?" Lily questioned.

"Sure, why not?" Dominique responded with a shrug. "Lead the way."

The two first years led her to the twin sisters. Ava and Callie looked up at them, and Ava regarded them with a suspicious look.

"Hey, guys, I wanted you to meet my cousin, Dominique. Dom, this is Ava and Callie," Lily said.

"Hi," Dominique greeted them in a bored voice. Ava narrowed her eyes at the older girl, but Dominique didn't seem put off by her.

"Figures you'd bring a Weasley to the party," Ava said to Lily. Lily just rolled her eyes at the other girl.

"Chill. I'm not like my other dumbass cousins. I couldn't care less what house someone is in," Dominique told the younger girl. "I judge people based on their personality."

"Whatever. I guess you could be worse," Ava sighed. "At least you're not a Gryffindor."

"God, no. I'd rather die," Dominique snorted. "Ravenclaw, and proud. You're a Ravenclaw too, right?" She directed the question at Callie, who looked startled at being spoken too.

"Yes, I am," Callie answered quietly.

"Do you like it?" Dominique asked her.

"I think so… I definitely like the house values, and I think I belong there. I just don't… fit well with other people," she practically whispered the last part, looking embarrassed. Dominique's pale blue eyes softened slightly.

"There's nothing wrong with that. People are lame anyway. Well, most of them. I happen to be best friends with the only people in our house that are almost as cool as I am," Dominique told her. "Want to go meet them?"

Callie's eyes widened. "Really? Um… yeah, sure!"

"Cool. Ava, I'm stealing your sister for a minute. See you guys later," Dominique told the younger girls. She casually took Callie's hand, likely getting the feeling that she would get intimidated by the crowd, and the two Ravenclaws walked away.

"What just happened?" Ava wondered.

"I think your sister just made a friend," Lily answered with a pleased grin.

"...Thanks, Lily," Ava said after a moment.

"Don't thank me. This was entirely Rose's idea," Lily responded. Ava made a face. She and Rose still weren't on the best terms. But then she sighed, and looked Rose in the eyes.

"Thank you, Rose," Ava told the dark-haired girl. Rose looked pleasantly surprised, and she smiled at the blonde.

"You're welcome, Ava," Rose said. Lily couldn't help but feel relieved. Maybe now all of them could finally get along.

A few minutes later, Alana and Melanie came and found them. "Hey guys, come play a game with us!" Alana said with a grin on her face.

"What game?" Ava asked in a tone that gave Lily the feeling that she was already debating saying no to her friend.

"Beer pong," Melanie answered with a wicked grin on her face. The other three girls stared at her in shock, and she laughed at them. "Don't worry, we're going to use butterbeer, not actual beer."

Lily let out a sigh of relief. She was definitely not interested in drinking alcohol yet. She was sure in a few years she might end up trying it, but right now it just didn't seem like a great idea. Plus she had a feeling the older students wouldn't let any of the first years drink, even if they wanted to.

"Sure, why not? I've never played before, though," Lily warned them.

"Neither have we. We saw some of the older kids playing actual beer pong and thought it looked fun," Alana responded with a shrug. Lily was glad that she might not end up being the only one who sucked at it. In any case, it might be good practice for if she ever played the real game as a teenager.

After a little convincing, Rose and Ava both agreed. They then realized that the teams would be uneven, so they dragged Gilbert into it (though it wasn't actually at all difficult to convince him to play). It took some arguing, but they managed to make two teams that everyone was satisfied with: Lily, Ava and Alana versus Rose, Melanie and Gilbert. Alex and Zack took a break from making out on the dancefloor to help them set up the table and drinks, as well as (attempting to) explain the rules.

"Okay, so, just throw the ball in the cup and they drink it," Alex said. The first years gave the drunk boy blank stares, and Zack smacked his head.

"Dumbass, that was sho shitty," Zack told his friend.

"Sho? Nice one, dude," Alex teased the other boy, although his words weren't really much more coherent. Lily was beginning to think that getting their help was not the best idea.

"Suck my dick," Zack snapped. He ignored Alex's response of "maybe later" and kept talking. "Okay, so what you wanna do is try to throw the ping pong ball into one of their cups. If it lands, one of them has to drink the cup. Whichever team gets the others to empty all their cups first wins."

It sounded simple enough. Ava and Gilbert played rock-paper-scissors to determine which team would throw first. Lily and Alana had to hold Ava back from hitting Gilbert when he beat her. It didn't help that he rubbed his victory in her face. Alex and Zack just stood there and laughed at them instead of trying to diffuse the situation. They were really quite irresponsible, but at least they were fun to be around. Gilbert tossed the ping pong ball back and forth between his hands as he studied the distance between himself and the cups. Lily saw Ava roll her eyes, and she knew the blonde was getting impatient. Luckily, before Ava could make a rude comment, Gilbert threw the ball. It landed in one of the cups in the middle, and Gilbert pumped his fist into the air.

"I'm total chaser material," he bragged. "Try to beat that, Ava!"

"Oh, you're so on," she responded. She took the ball from the cup and gulped down the butterbeer, all while glaring at Gilbert. Lily had to hold herself back from laughing as Ava gathered her long hair into a ponytail to keep it out of her face. She had a look of total focus as she picked up the ping pong ball. Without a moment of hesitation, she threw the ball, and it landed in one of the farthest cups. Ava grinned smugly at Gilbert. "You were saying?"

"I ship it," Lily heard Alex whisper to Zack, who simply snorted in response. She was just grateful that Ava didn't overhear.

Melanie went next for Gilbert's team, and she just barely missed one of the cups. She shrugged good-naturedly and commented she would get it next time. Zack did a quick cleaning charm on the ball to get any dirt off of it. For Lily's team, Alana went, and she wasn't even close to getting into one of the cups.

"I'm definitely never gonna be a chaser," Alana said amusedly. "Good luck Rose!"

The raven-haired girl took the ball from Alex, who had cleaned it this time, and threw it. She seemed a little surprised when it actually landed in one of the cups.

"Yes! My team is winning!" Gilbert cheered as he high-fived Rose.

"Lily, you better not miss," Ava warned her. "We can't let this idiot get ahead of us!"

"Wow, so no pressure or anything," Lily commented. She drank the cup of butterbeer that the ball had landed in, and then looked carefully at the cups. She took a deep breath and tossed it, and let out a relieved sigh when it landed in a cup.

"Nice one, Lils!" Lily looked over in surprise to see Lorcan giving her a thumbs up. He and his brother, as well as Dominique and Callie, had apparently come over to watch. She was glad to see Ava's twin looking a lot more relaxed. Being around the Scamanders could put anyone at ease, since they were both kind and easy-going people. If anyone could help Callie come out of her shell, it would be the two of them.

The two teams went back and forth, and everyone managed to have a good time. Some of them were mostly just playing for fun, like Rose, Alana and Melanie. Gilbert and Ava were the ones taking it the most personally, though Lily had to admit the game was bringing out her competitive side slightly. It didn't help that Dom kept encouraging her and trash talking the other team. Still, Lily didn't get mad when she missed like Ava and Gilbert both did. In the end, Gilbert's team won, and Lily endured the other team's bragging good-naturedly. She hugged Rose and Melanie, and high-fived Gilbert. Ava congratulated the two girls, and then punched Gilbert's face.

"Figures you'd be a sore loser," Gilbert complained as he rubbed his face. Ava seemed a lot happier after getting that out of her system. She ignored her sister's gentle scolding, and accepted approving words of Dom. Lily couldn't help but wonder what this game would be like when they were older and started using actual beer.

Eventually, the younger kids started getting herded off to bed. Lily had to say goodbye to the Ravenclaws. She was glad to see that Callie seemed to be getting along with the trio, though. Ava seemed really happy about it, too. Lily hadn't realized just how much Ava had been worrying about her twin. The four Ravenclaws left, and then the Slytherin first years slowly started heading to their room.

"Goodniiiiiight, kiddos," Alexander said to them as they walked by.

"Yeah, Happy Halloween and shit!" Zackary added. The girls giggled at the intoxicated antics of the older boys.

"This was a pretty good night," Rose commented quietly to Lily.

Lily smiled at her friend. "Yeah, it really was." It had been her first Halloween at Hogwarts, and away from her parents and family (with the exception of Dominique), and she had loved it. She couldn't wait for next Halloween.

Author's Note: yo yo yo guess who finally updated this fanfiction after a million years? shout out to my boi zack for proof reading this lmao. happy halloween everyone, and please review!

Update: a year later i've edited and added to this chapter, and the next one is in progress. school and work have kept me very busy but this semester i took a creative writing class and it's helped to get me writing again. so hopefully i won't go so long between updates.