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A/N: Not quite a "Breaking Destiny" interlude... have fun! Halloweenie! By: DangerMouse "HAPPY HALLOWEEN!" Harry looked up from where he was staring at the fireplace, curled on the end of the couch, as Fred bounded down the stairs with youthful abandon, George close on his heals. They walked right over to him, each clutching a large bag, which Harry was certain was filled with pranks and jokes. "Ready for the Halloween Costume Ball, Harry?" Fred asked. "Should be a lot of fun," George added. Harry shrugged. "I guess." "He guesses?" George echoed, looking over at his brother. "He guesses?" Fred repeated, sharing his brother's incredulous look. They glanced back at Harry. "This should be the best party..." "... ever!" George finished. "Candy, chocolate..." "A big dance! Lots of opportunities..." "... for fun to be had!" Harry nodded. "I know," he said softly. "I'm just not that excited about it." George shook his head. "Tell us you at least..." "...have a costume!" Fred concluded. "I do," Harry said with a sigh. "Hermione helped me order one. I'll be at the party, I promise." "Great!" the twins said as one. Lee Jordan walked into the room, grinning ear-to-ear. "Hey guys," he called to the twins, who turned at his entrance. "Everything's set! All we need are the you-know-whats!" "Perfect!" Fred crowed as he and his brother hefted the bags. "Let's go!" "See you later, Harry," George said as they walked out of the common room. "Try to cheer up!" Harry nodded and waved them away, then went back to staring at the fire. * * * * * * Blaise poked his head around the door to the hospital wing, meeting Madame Pomfrey's glare with a winning smile. "Hi!" he told her happily, sauntering into the room, a cloth bag in hand. She frowned. "I don't like this," she grumbled, looking over at Draco, stretched out on the bed, smiling weakly at his friend. "I don't want you to strain yourself, Mr. Malfoy." "I won't," he promised her, scooting over to the side so Blaise could sit next to him, the bag on his lap. "Half an hour, right?" "No more than that," she said sternly, returning to gaze herself in the mirror, raising her wand to continue lengthening her canines for her costume. "You can go in, make an appearance, have a piece of cake, then hobble right back here." "Yes, Ma'am," he said tiredly, motioning to Blaise to close the curtains around the bed, which he did with one swift movement. "You got it?" he asked, grinning wickedly. "Sure did," Blaise said, also smiling. He reached into the bag and pulled out some clothes. "I had to dig around in the bottom of your footlocker to find them." His sighed happily, running his hands along the material. "As soon as you're back up to speed," he whispered, so the nurse couldn't hear, "we are so going back to that club in London." "Yeah, and maybe we can try to drag Harry along," Draco added. Both boys laughed. Blaise frowned then, looking at the still purple bruise under Draco's right eye. "We'll have to cover that up a bit," he said, waving a finger at the injury, "but even if we can't mask it completely, it should still look okay. Oh, and I almost forgot..." Blaise reached in the bag again, pulling out a small plastic canister, shaking it a few times for emphasis. "Glitter," Draco said with a toothy grin. "Glitter," Blaise confirmed, his smile a little maniacal. "Now, let's get you dressed." * * * * * * The Halloween Costume Ball had replaced the typical Halloween feast this year. The teaching staff decided that a party might be more fun, what with the dark atmosphere surrounding the school. Trips to Hogsmeade had been cancelled early in the semester, nobody thinking it safe for the children to leave the confines of the castle. So far, it was a hit. The music was loud and the room was dark, filled with students having dressed and magicked themselves into other people and things, if only for one night. Real bats screeched along the ceiling, occasionally dipping down to skim across the students' heads, raising shrieks every now and again. The ghostly residents of Hogwarts were having a blast, jumping through walls to scare the students, writing nasty things on the wall with what looked like blood, and breathing softly spoken words in everyone's ears, sending chills up their spines. Most everyone had begun to steer away from the candy, however, not certain if they would get a treat or a trick, courtesy of Fred and George. So far, two people had to seek out Madame Pomfrey, dressed as a vampire, to get their tongues back in their mouths and their eyes facing the correct way again. The students in third year and below had been allowed to stay until 10pm, then sent back to their dorms. After that, the party had only gotten louder. Harry was enjoying the feeling of being lost in the crowd. Everyone was so preoccupied with their own fun, dancing and showing off their costumes, that Harry could hover back against the wall, no one bothering him. Ron, dressed up as a pirate, complete with a magicked parrot that talked (which now had spell-o-tape over it's mouth after the twins had jinxed it only speak in dirty limericks) along with Hermione, dressed as Scarlet from "Gone With the Wind," (a joke, she'd claimed, from the time Ron had said she was being portrayed as a "scarlet woman" by Rita Skeeter), were slow dancing in the center of the hall, arms wrapped around each other. The rest of his friends were similarly occupied, Seamus (a cat-person) and Dean (a dog-person) we're trying to hit on Lavender (a 1920's flapper) and Pavarati (a gypsy fortuneteller), without much success. The fact that they were so occupied with each other may have had something to do with it. Harry smirked to himself and looked away. "Why, hello, Tiger," whispered a small voice in his ear. Harry jumped and turned around, gasping. "Draco?" he asked incredulous. "What the hell are you supposed to be?" "What does it look like?" he asked coyly, putting his hands on his leather clad hips. The black dragon-hide pants clung to every feature and curve of his legs, his feet covered in steel-toed clunky boots. The large, metal and plastic brace wrapped around his sore knee hardly detracted from the look, actually blending in quite well with all the other metal loops and cords hanging on leather. The top button of his pants was undone, revealing just a small hint of what lay below. On top, Draco was wearing a tight, green shirt that, for all intensive purposes, could have been painted on, ending about six inches above his navel, showing off the smooth expanse of his abs, his skin glittering with tiny sparkles. On top of the sleeveless, not-quite-a-shirt, a fine, gauzy, green, short-sleeved shirt rested on his shoulders, covering just above his nipples. To finish the whole ensemble, Draco had a spiked dog collar around his neck, as well as matching spiked wristbands on each hand. His eyes were outlined in dark eyeliner, bringing out the silver in a startling fashion, more glitter at each temple. Perhaps most surprising of all was his hair, loose and long, down to his waist, the tips dyed in a chunky fashion, the same green as his eyes. Harry gaped. "A male prostitute?" he finally choked out. Draco laughed. "No, but that's an interesting proposition," he said, draping his arms around Harry's neck. "I'm a punk," he informed him. "Like it?" "'Like' is a weak sort of word I could associate with this," Harry said, swallowing hard. "'Love' might be better. Along with 'shocking' and 'yikes.'" "Thank you," he said cheekily, then looked Harry up and down. "So, your costume - it's from the 'Broody Collection.'" Harry glanced down at his black outfit, high-collar lined with red, a fedora perched jauntily on his head. "I'm The Shadow," Harry told him, smiling, then said in a dark, low voice... "'Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows...'" "This is some vague, Muggle, pop-culture reference I won't understand, isn't it?" Draco asked, smiling a little. "Probably," Harry agreed, giving Draco a small peck on the lips. "So, I couldn't help but notice you hiding over here, away from all the fun," Draco began, taking Harry's hat off his head and putting it on his own. "The expression on your face is one of a man about to be drawn and quartered. Anything wrong?" "Shouldn't you be in bed?" Harry said, deflecting away from the topic. Draco raised a delicate eyebrow, a small silver hoop pierced there, which Harry hadn't noticed earlier, sparkling in the dim light. "Only if it's yours..." Draco purred, sliding back up against the taller boy. "And don't change the subject." "I meant the hospital wing," Harry went on, as if not hearing the second part of Draco's reply. "You've been through quite an ordeal." "I know," Draco replied easily, returning Harry's hat to his head. "But the vampire woman gave me a reprieve, so long as I don't do anything too... extraneous." "What you're suggesting could be considered rather extraneous," Harry reminded him. Draco smirked. "It doesn't have to be," he said, wrapping an arm loosely around Harry's waist. "Just so long as you keep away from my ribs and my knee. And you still haven't told me why you're so down." "I'm not getting out of this, am I?" Harry asked him. "Nope." Draco placed a small kiss on Harry's nose. "If you don't tell me, I'll just crawl into your head while you're sleeping and find out anyway. I'm being civil this way." "Thanks," Harry remarked dryly, then sighed. "It's just..." he looked around the room, biting his lip. "It's just, the time I spent with your parents... it makes me realize how much I miss my own. I wonder how different things would have been if they hadn't been killed." "You're parents died on Halloween," Draco murmured. Harry nodded. "You see why I don't feel like celebrating." Draco sighed and gave him a small hug, unable to do so as hard as he'd like due to his still, very broken ribs. Then, he looked up at Harry and gave him what could only be described as a lusty grin. "We could go make some new memories," he offered. Harry laughed, shaking his head. "You're insatiable!" he chuckled. "And you can see just how true that is," Draco told him, leaning up to whisper in his ear. "Just say the word." "I'd love to," Harry replied earnestly. "I can tell," Draco said, his hand reaching down past Harry's waist. The Gryffindor jumped. "B-but not until you're fully healed," Harry said, his voice squeaking. He cleared his throat and went on, ignoring Draco's knowing look. "You're a walking bruise, Drake." "But a cute, walking bruise," the Slytherin added. "A very cute bruise," Harry agreed. "Also a very sexy bruise." He trailed an hand lightly along Draco's back, making the smaller boy sigh happily. "Tease," he accused the Gryffindor. Harry smirked. "Like you're one to talk," he replied, tracing a hand down Draco's leather pants, hooking a finger around one of the metal loops. "Should I even ask what this is for?" "They don't call them bondage pants for nothing," Draco said with a wink. Harry groaned. Suddenly, Draco looked over Harry's shoulder, frowning. "What's wrong?" Harry asked. "The vampire woman," Draco grumbled. "She's making these little hand-waving motions. I think she wants me to go back to the hospital wing." "Well," Harry said sweetly, "you do look a little tired. Maybe I can give you a hand getting back there." "You want to put me to bed?" Draco asked with false innocence. "For starters," Harry said with a wolfish grin. Draco laughed, then pulled Harry down for a hard kiss than seemed to go on for hours. After a long while, they pulled back with a gasp. "Let's put you to bed," Harry said quickly. "Sounds good to me," Draco said, leaning against Harry as they slowly made their way out of the room. Harry paused, licking his lips. "There was something..." he said distractedly, thinking of the kiss. He stopped, looking down at Draco in shock. "Did you pierce your tongue?" "Hmm... wait 'till you see what I can do with it," Draco said sensuously, squeezing Harry's waist again. "Happy Halloween, Harry." "Happy, happy Halloween," Harry agreed. The two boys walked quickly out of the room, disappearing into the hallway. The End! back? |