It is All Hallows eve at Hogwarts, and celebrations of spooks and hauntings fill the castle halls. The long-forgotten dead have risen from their graves and come to play in the land of the living for one night only.

In the hall, the sky is dark and in the place of candles float pumpkins with bats skirting around their heads. The tables are stacked high with a feast of treats as the children chat happily amongst one another as they enjoy the evening. Even the older students are able to enjoy themselves as they give in to their childish delights and let loose.

"Have you heard?" Said an excited voice as Quinn made her way into the hall from the library.

"You're going to tell me anyways." Quinn pointed out as she sat at down with Ezran Longbottom.

"Fred's planning something big. It's gonna be awesome."

"Clarify?" Quinn asked, her eyes on the Fat Friar who was attempting to scare some first year Hufflepuffs by hiding in the soup cauldrons, but every time one of them opened the lid they just giggled at the sight of a jovial old man grinning "scarily" up at them.

"Well, I don't know exactly." Said Ezra sheepishly.

"He just said 'midnight, the old dungeon. Be prepared to wet yourself'."

Quinn snorted. "Ever the wordsmith our Fred. Glamorous." She wished she was more in the mood for the hocus pocus that usually ensued on Halloween, but she had a lot of work to do that was starting to addle her brain.

"You heard about tonight?" Said another voice from behind them. It was Diana Zaidi who sat down next to them, her face in a faint shape is disapproval mixed with bemusement. As ever, she looked amazingly curated, having changed out of her robes into her docs, sweater and mini skirt with a small touch of Halloween. She looked chic, yet effortlessly so. She was one of those people who had a simple bit distinct style, and nailed it every time.

"Why am I only just hearing about this now?" Quinn asked a little begrudgingly as she ate, enjoying the Halloween themed food at the feast.

Diana shrugged with a smile. "Because the world is out to get you. The world vs Gwendolyn Velasquez, round one." She said which made Quinn grin.

"You lot seen Al?"

Said Scorpius, sporting a denim jacket and cropped trousers. Quinn turned around to see the school's heartthrob with a frown on his face, looking at Diana. Apart from himself and Rose Weasley (who never got on), Diana was the reclusive Potter's next closest companion.

"Er no, sorry Scorpius." Said Diana apologetically, looking at her food. Quinn could tell she was lying, at least a little. Scorpius' frown deepened.

"Right, well, could you ask him what his problem is? He's been behaving really weird lately and I have no idea why. We normally do Halloween together." He said, shaking his head before walking off, kicking his feet on the ground a little.

"What was that about?" Quinn asked Diana, feeling like she was interrupting on something.

"I don't know, to be honest. Al's not been himself lately and he's acting like a dick towards Scorpius. Every time I ask him what's up he just pushes me away."

"God, he's so whiny sometimes." Quinn blurted out, but immediately wished he hadn't at the look on her companions faces. "Sorry, didn't mean it like that, whoops. Sorry. What about Rose? She's usually good to chat to and they're close, right?"

"He won't really talk to her either. He basically only has three friends and he won't let any of us in." She said, the humour in the sentence a little soured.

"Jesus, you guys looked depressed." Said another voice who came this time to join them at the table. It was starting to feel like a carousel. It was Roxanne Weasley, who began to pile food onto her plate happily, and seeing Diana's was empty put a few pieces on hers as well.

"So Fred's doing a prank later, right? People are saying it's gonna be his biggest one yet." Asked Ezra with a hopefully sheepish grin on his face.

"Yeah, I dunno. I'm his sister, not his assistant. But hey, watch this." She said with that signature Weasley grin with eyes filled with mischief.

"Hey, losers!" She shouted, getting the attention of some of the Slytherin boys across the hall. They looked up with unamused expressions on their faces. Why did they have to take themselves so seriously? In Quinn's mind, the key to a good life was doing exactly the opposite.

"Trick or treat?!" She shouted. "Too slow! Melofors!"

One of the boys, who Quinn could just make out to be Zeke Cook now had a large conjured pumpkin on his heads. The boy stumbled amidst the laughter from those who had witnessed it, angrily trying to yank the heavy pumpkin off. Quinn herself couldn't help beaming with laughter at the ridiculousness. Soon the boys started shouting back at the four of them, faces red with anger as they hurled insults back at them.

"Oh shit!" Said Roxanne, grabbing a chocolate sprinkle covered sweet from her plate and jumping over the bench. "We better run," she said with a grin full of delighted surprise as she grabbed Ezra and yanked him out of his seat. The four of them cleared off, barely able to contain their laughter as they spilled out of the hall into the corridors, sprinting as fast as their bodies could carrying them until they had lost the sounds of shouting and threats from behind them.

As they turned the corner to who knows where - Quinn had lost track - out of the corner of her eye she caught Diana run headfirst in to someone coming the other way. The group slowed down, and she watched Ezra collapse on the floor, with the words "Merlin's beard." And "did you see their faces?" From Roxanne between the heavy breaths and giggles.

It was Louis (who needed know introduction as Weasley, because when you said Louis everyone knew who you meant). The two were staring at each other, with awkward and surprised smiles on their faces as Diana caught her breath. After what seemed an excruciating age, one of them finally spoke. Quinn was tempted to stay and listen, but even she felt like that would be intruding, so she turned to Rox and Ezra instead as the two got to their feet and continued down the hallway at a leisurely pace, each recounting the moment that had just occurred. Neither of them had noticed the fact of Louis and Diana, or perhaps they had just put less weight on it. Now that she'd come to think of it, it seemed obvious. But there was still that palpable excited yet nervous energy between them which Quinn never really felt before.

High on adrenaline, the three of them wandered down the hallways in an aimless direction. As Roxanne and Ezra trotted happily ahead, the noise of faintly recognisable voices coming from down the staircase caught her attention. Curiosity getting the better of her, she walked quietly down the staircase to see what was going on. Or rather, 'hear'.

"Boy, what happened to you?" Said an unmistakable voice a little too loudly in a provocative tone. It was Eamon of course, a voice which she new like the back of her hand.

"Shut up, Finnigan. Get out of the way." Said someone in response.

"Ohh, I see." Said Eamon, obviously denying their request, his voice raising. "Look a bit red in the face, Cook, cat got your tongue?"

"Don't fucking start, Finnigan. You wouldn't last." Said the voice of Colton Drakes, the school's Quidditch prodigy. He had about the academic prowess of a mollusc and despite his status, Quinn had never felt remotely threatened by him.

"Where you going, anyways? You don't look too happy. Do I smell...pumpkin?" Said Eamon. Merlin's beard, she really wished he could learn to keep his mouth shut. She'd seen him win a fair few scuffles before (none of them endorsed by her), but from the sounds of things he was outnumbered about four to one.

She heard a thud, and leaned an inch further forward so she could just see the scene ahead of her. Cook had Eamon - who was still grinning as if he was in the winning position - pressed against the wall, the veins on his neck throbbing as he hissed his next works.

"Where's your little mudblood friend, Finnigan? I believe she has something to say to me."

Quinn felt her chest tighten, and pulled back from the corner, her back against the wall.

"The Fuck did you just say?" Said Eamon, pushing back with indignation.

"The Fuck? Say it again you sassenach fuck. Say it again!"

Quinn could feel her heartbeat rising. Perhaps not registering the consequences of the four to one aspect, she stepped out into the hallway, in full view. Immediately, a figure that stood leant against the wall, body half masked in shadow caught her attention. It was Roman Selwyn, the fifth member of the group who she hadn't even realised was there. Unlike the other boys, he was not engaged in the petty fight over pride, he was simply watching. And now his eyes were right on hers. It felt as though they were burrowing into her soul. Dark, hungry spheres like the edge of an abyss. She felt her lips part as a strange nauseating sense filled her stomach, but broke the gaze away before she became swept up in something almost hypnotic.

As she came back to her senses she heard the two duelling partners cast various spells.
"Oppugno!" Yelled Eamon.
"Confringo!" Called Zeke, which burst the object flying his way into splinters that fell with a crash.

She noticed a wand at her feet, and slid it to back Eamon across the floor. Just as she raised her own wand, one of the Slytherin oafs (a beater who's name she couldn't remember) knocked her off balance. She stumbled back and landed on another body, who wrapped his arms tightly around her and held her in a lock. She writhed at the unpleasantness, the feeling of his body against hers sending her into revulsion. "Got you now" Drakes said with a smirk, and Quinn watched as Eamon got to his feet, lip bloodied.

"Let go of her!" Eamon growled, his face twisting in a new heightened way. "Put her fucking down!"

"I can handle myself, Aim." Said Quinn, interrupting Drakes' laugh by bringing her head up to smack against his chin before wriggling out of his grip.

Before she could do anything further, footsteps came hurrying down the stairs and Roxanne and Ezra appeared. Without a moment's hesitation, the Gryffindor disarmed Cook with expelliarmus, and stood over him.

"Don't say another word. And don't try it." She said fiercely, gesturing to his wand which was now a few feet away. "And for your information, it was me who cast the spell, not Quinn."

Quinn's eyes glanced back up to Selwyn, who simply stood there with a faint smirk, one eyebrow slightly raised as if he'd just watched a mildly amusing comedy sketch. If anything, it unnerved her.

"Why do you Slytherins always have to ruin it? It's Halloween, for fuck's sake. Live a little." Roxanne continued, shaking her head in disappointment. "I don't know how you managed to do it in the five seconds you just fought, but you've broken your nose." She bent down and without another word, said "Episkey." And with a simple flick of the wand, the satisfying wonkiness in Cook's nose vanished. She watched a second longer as she offered an arm to help him up, but he refused. Gryffindors were so damn chivalrous it was almost a cliché. It was the sort of thing that would have prompted her to yawn, had it not been for the fact that she felt as if she was being watched.

"I don't know about you," began Ezra, turning to Quinn and Eamon with his hands in his pockets. "But I think I'm in need of something to lighten the mood. Anyone fancy another Weasley prank? As far as I'm aware, this one doesn't involve any bad tempered Slytherins."

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A/N

Sorry this one took me so long - I have a lot of uni work to do and sometimes procrastinating really isn't an option. Keep those Durmstrang/Beauxbatons students coming! Remember, no love interest is set in stone so don't worry about them being "taken" by other character.