Hearth II James Potter

Chapter 8 - Halloween Day

"Fo' the last time Lily, get off m'bed and let me write m'letter," Y/N groaned, pulling the parchment out from under Lily's head. She looked over the letter and clicked her tongue in annoyance; Lily's hair smudged half the ink. Leo would be lucky if he would have been able to read her letter at all.

Lily just rolled over on her other side. "Why can't you just write letters during the boring lessons like everyone else does?"

"Aye, while I'm at it, I should start dancin' on the tables as well," Y/N scoffed.

"Now there's an idea."

"Some o' us actually gotta study fo' our exams ya know."

Lily only grunted in response and pulled Y/N's cover over her head. As per usual, Lily had fallen asleep on Y/N's bed the night prior while they were chattering about. It happened quite often in their dorms; Marlene and Mary were extreme cuddlers, which Y/N found out the hard way. Dorcas was the only girl that stayed in her bed, snoring away with no problem. Although, nobody was really willing to share a bed with her. Dorcas had a lousy habit of kicking at night.

Y/N read her letter over. Leo was more than happy to receive letters from his sister, although half the time he couldn't read what she wrote. His responses were always short and much more often included drawings more so than words. Leo was spending Halloween in the boys' dorm of his school. He was extremely excited for the candy pass out that was supposed to happen this year. He had asked Y/N for some money to pay his share in class, but Y/N was going to have to send him an empty package. Y/N had no money of her own for Leo and she would rather choke on her spit than send a letter to her aunt. Hopefully, in a few years, Leo would be able to join her for Halloween.

Y/N stood up from her bed and opened the curtains. The previously dark room suddenly flooded with light. It was nice and bright outside. The sun was beating down on the window with renewed ferocity compared to the dreary weeks prior. The dim room suddenly brightened and with that came groans of the other girls, who were all hoping to sleep just a bit longer before classes started. Y/N stifled a laugh when she heard Dorcas curse up a storm in her corner of the room. Y/N pushed against the windowpane, forcing the window open to let in the fresh air. The air was crisp and cool, causing any fatigue in her body to vanish.

"Come on girls, breakfast awaits!" Y/N exclaimed, shoving the letter in her drawer. She would send it out during lunch.

Lily brought her pillow over her ears, "Since when have you been a morning person?"

"Since McGonagall promised tha' there'll be fun spells today."

"Some of us had essays to finish!" Marlene complained.

"Ya're your own worst enemy," Y/N shrugged, grabbing her clothes and heading towards the bathroom. Y/N checked the clock, "Also ya don't wan' to miss whatever Potter and his lot have planned." With that, she disappeared into the bathroom.

It took a much longer time for the girls to get ready than it usually did. Marlene was going out of her way to slow everyone down and Dorcas refused to get up until everyone had finished changing. They were nearly late for breakfast, which would have been terrible. Some of the upper years had told them that Halloween breakfast and dinner are the best holidays; there would be feasts and heaps of magical decorations strung around the Great Hall. Y/N was so giddy with excitement that she couldn't stop blabbering. She pointed out everything and everyone on their way to breakfast; no detail was spared. From the hallway that was lit up with candles and floating jack-o-lanterns, to the strung-up orange and black banners. Even the knight statues that were lined against the wall were enchanted to move around. They occasionally would change their shields and act confused- it was a very cute and clever animation charm according to Lily, although it was very advanced. Professor Flitwick must have worked on the enchantment at night.