Dress for the Dead. Errand

A costume contest? Well, that was something new for Anna Blackberry. She was used to dressing up to look pretty and to dance, but wearing costumes wasn't something she was used to. "But then again," she thought while she tried to find that lace among her endless suitcase of accessories, "it can't be too difficult, right? I'm still just putting dresses to go to a party..."
She had seen some posters referring to the costume contest that would happen on the day 31, just before the annual feast. It prompted the readers use their creativity and create a costume to morph into the dead. "Morph into the dead? As in... Look like a dead person?" , she wondered. Well, that was a creepy idea, but there were plenty of ghosts in the school, and since Halloween is associated with death, the theme wasn't that far off. And so, she spent a few days planning how should she dress, if she should use any makeup (although she avoided using any, as she was rather young to worry about makeup), if she should interviewers the ghosts and how could she possibly look like a dead person...
Then, as she drew her possible final look on her sketchbook in the Hufflepuff Common Room at night, she overheard a group of girls talking about what they wanted to wear to look scary. Or to look fun or monstrous. It took a bit of eavesdropping for Anna to understand that, as a matter of fact, "morphing with the dead" was not supposed to be literal; the poster wasn't inducing people to look like corpses, but simply to use a scary costume of their liking. Or... Something along those lines, that's what she managed to understand.
The idea was much less complicated than what she initially thought, but she chose to go with something different than a costume; she was going with a dress. One that looked far less friendly than the ones she was used to wearing, but it was still comfortable in, and it surely fitted the purpose of the gathering. In the evening of the contest, she took her time to put that dress and adjust that hat and its decorations on her voluminous hair; only then she left the Hufflepuff Cellar.

Anna didn't smile, yet felt joyful when she entered the Small Hall, and entered it with a confidence that shone through her eyes and her every movement. As a matter of fact, everything looked beautiful to her. Even her own outfit, which she wore for the first time in her life, felt no stranger than her every other outfit; it didn't make her feel"cute" as she typically enjoyed, but it was elegant, and its dark colors complimented her hair (which she loved oh-so much) greatly. Maybe she should begin to try darker looks every once in a while.
In her time there, spent a long time admiring the carefully arranged candles and pumpkins, something new and curious to someone who's never saw as much as a Halloween party. But then again, not much can be expected from someone who grew up as sheltered as her, who before the first day of buying her materials to hogwarts had not left her house, if not to visit her grandmother.
Webs on each corner of the room. Carved pumpkins spread across the floor, and on the floor people with all kinds of costumes and dresses stood and walked, with the most various looks. Anna held no expectation od winning, but she did look at other people's outfits; she looked intently as some people walked by with beautiful dresses, and others chose a funnier look, and yet others went with the party's initial prompt, picking a dark, frightening or monstrous look. Anna only had the shadow of a smile as she allowed her mind to reach a conclusion to a line of thinking she didn't realize she had began: although she did have her own opinion, good or bad, about the aesthetic of each look and each costume, she wholeheartedly believed that every single person was perfectly dressed for this occasion.

xx

──────────────────────────────── 𝑵𝑬𝑽𝑬𝑹𝑬𝑵𝑫𝑰𝑵𝑮 ✰ Somewhere in the middle of his incredible, super amazingly replicated Rasengan strike, he heard a familiar voice making some interesting points. First, there was the mention of Novalie. Was she the one stuck in that crazy banana costume? It made way too much sense for anything otherwise; of course Novalie's creativity would shine like that. Aodhan had no doubt she was the ringleader of the cult too, causing him to send her a thumbs-up in approval. Second, why was he getting called "unwell"? And an idiot? A quick turn of his head revealed his partner-in-crime of the year prior, who also happened to be the host of the hour. Once again, things were making way too much sense. Of course she, of all people, would be such a meanie pants. "She's right, y'know. I'm unwell. I'm sick. Like, the illest," he instantly quipped, making a point to ignore the secondary insult she packed into her statement. He didn't need to respond to everything, after all. Just the things that he could twist to his own benefit. As Meiyu took her exit, ungraceful in a way that had Aodhan openly pointing and laughing, it seemed Fire took the opportunity to attack. A revenge strike that would have been devastating... if not for the ridiculous heels on the other's feet. This was seriously turning out to be the funniest Hogwarts event yet. Having dealt with much deadlier things, like bludgers, the youth had no issue with maneuvering himself out of Fire's clutches, cackling incessantly as he did. His joy didn't stop, not even after getting called "Nerd-uto," which... okay. Okay, that was a good one, and maybe his smile did falter momentarily because wow, that was really good. He had to give Fire props again. This was becoming dangerously common. But even worse... "You just made a big mistake y'know, you just rasengan'ed the co-host of the contest, what do you think of that?" Was this check-mate? "Woah... Hey. Hey, hey, hey. Let's not do anything crazy here, Fire. You wouldn't—I mean. Bro! I'm, like, one of the best looking here! And that rasengan—are you gonna punish me for being in character? C'mon bro," he blabbed off, gesturing to himself wildly in the process. Surely the red-head would give him his fair shot at winning, right? This potential sabotage was outrageous! Thankfully, another person had found themselves entering the mix. A banana cult member, if the outfit was anything to go by, complimenting Aodhan and asking if he was doing some kind of cosplay. It was just enough flattery to have the boy puffing his chest out and resting his hands on his hips, suddenly feeling vindicated. "See, Spitfire? I'm iconic," he proudly asserted before resting his gaze on the stranger, his smile bright and jovial. "Yeah! I'm dressed up as Naruto Uzumaki! Do you know the show?" ✰ 𝑵𝑶𝑻 𝑶𝑹𝑫𝑰𝑵𝑨𝑹𝒀 ────────────────────────────────

xx

The room was filling up by the second, the next costume more or less creative than the last. Aiden didn’t pay them much mind either way, but noted them with disinterest. Only one costume was pushing it a bit with his chest all exposed, though he was clearly older than most. “Tada! Do you recognise who I am?” Came a voice to his right. There was no question who that came from. Not looking particularly surprised or startled, Aiden turned in Aleks direction where he was proudly displaying his home-made costume with his arms lifted. He gave him a curt up and down glance, one eyebrow slightly lifted in no clear recognition. The aluminum foil had been turned into something resembling armor. That was a pretty decent job, compared to the melted wax that was sticking to his face in thick clusters, warping his features like he’d been in some freak accident involving fire.

Aiden opened his mouth but was immediately interrupted. “I’m Solomon Lear! And you’re…a Muggle… golfer?” The other Slytherin said before he could make his guess. If Aleks had given him enough time to actually answer the question, he would have answered any random Orc from the movie Lord of the Rings — or a melted doll from a clothing store. Though, he supposed he could see some resemblance to the headmaster, come to think of it. If he squinted his eyes and looked from a far. All in all, it was impressive work with the use of ordinary household items, if it wouldn’t have been stupid to risk his own ass by dressing up as the headmaster himself for Halloween. No one else than his Aleks would have the audacity to pull a stunt like that in broad daylight. Comparing the two of them, at least Aleks costume had some effort put into it.

Instead of an aha moment, Aiden sighed, bordering on exasperated. He gave him a look like he was asking, really? Asking himself if he was trying to get them in detention. It would not have been the first time for Aiden, but he would rather not waste any more of his time polishing silverware, or whatever boring tasks they could come up with that would hopefully ‘teach him a lesson.’ “Almost.” Aiden answered, unbothered by the clueless guess. “I’m a muggle cop. Instead of chasing balls, I chase criminals.” He lifted his baton and waved it lazily in the air, his delivery as flat as his enthusiasm. He shoved it back into his belt, crossing his arms over his chest. “I guess we’re supposed to mingle.”

A lovely evening it was. Though Anna hadn't been doing much, looking at other people's chosen outfits and feeling like a bright star in her own dress was enough to keep the little Blackberry there. As she walked around, hearing the sound of her shoes on the floor, she noticed a silhouette moving towards her, but she didn't have time to look up before the owner of said silhouette bumped on her, throwing her off balance for a second; and then Anna looked up. It was another girl, with a very particular dress, that somewhat resembled a dark and somber queen who had just walked out of her chambers. That girl wore a crown that only added to that aesthetic; she was the dark queen of this costume contest.
But even that was only a dress-up. The brown-haired girl had a gentle air, and apologized for having ran into Anna, and even complimented her dress! The shorter girl couldn't help but flash a proud and bright smile. She knew she looked pretty, but hearing that just made her feel even more charming, and she held her skirt gently, and began speaking as the other girl had, very clearly and unmistakably, turned around to leave.
"Thank you! You look beautiful, too. I'm not dressing up as anything in particular though, I'm just here to feel pretty!"