For the Hallowe'en feast, the students of Hogwarts were asked to wear costumes.
Before leaving for the feast, the Ravenclaws showed their costumes off to each other. When Mia showed her finished look to her roommates, all of their mouths fell open, but not in a good way.
"So?" Mia twirled around. "Thoughts?"
"Girl," Sage looked her up and down slowly, "you're brave."
"No, you're scary," Lois frowned as she took a step backwards. "Like, I'm actually terrified."
"Good," Mia nodded proudly. "That's the point."
"I don't think you should go out in this," a girl called Gwynn frowned at her. "I mean, this is quite rude of you."
"Rude?!" Mia crossed her arms. "I'm sorry, should I go as a fairy instead? Would that make you feel at ease?"
"Yeah," Lois nodded.
"Mia, you look just like her!" Gwynn exclaimed. "You'll frighten everyone!"
"Isn't that the point of Hallowe'en, though?" Mia argued.
"But you're dressed as Bellatrix Lestrange!" Gwynn narrowed her eyes. "It's like you drank Polyjuice Potion!"
"Thank you," Mia flipped her now curly black hair back. "And just so you know, I won't change. I put a lot of effort into this costume, these were actually her clothes!" She pointed at her body. "I asked my grandmother to help and everything!"
"I think it's great," Sage shrugged. "You're certainly terrifying. It's definitely better than dressing up as a cat," she shot Gwynn a look. "You're a Ravenclaw, girl, where's your creativity? Is that the best you could do?"
"At least my costume won't offend anyone," Gwynn argued.
"Yes, they'll barely even notice it," Mia examined her nails.
Gwynn scowled, then grabbed Lois' arm. "Come on, let's go."
The two of them left before Lois could say anything.
"By the way," Mia turned to look at Sage. "I love the whole Dementor look you have going on."
"Thanks," Sage grinned, then she put the hood of her costume on and walked closer to her. "I will suck all the happiness out of you," she said in a creepy voice.
"Jokes on you, there is no happiness inside of me," Mia said, trying to act like how she thought Bellatrix would. "Maybe later after I killed a mudblood or two."
"Oof," Sage put a hand over her heart. "If you talk like that in front of the others, you might start some drama."
"It's not my fault they're so sensitive," she rolled her eyes. "It's not like they care about my feelings. I mean, she is my relative. Or was."
"Right," Sage nodded. "Well, if you're ready for some criticism, we might as well go."
"Bring it on," Mia squinted her eyes, then they left their dorm and went inside the Common Room.
When they arrived, Mia spotted Flitwick, whose eyes widened when he took a look at her costume.
"Evening, Professor," she greeted him, while Sage just nodded from under her hood.
"Madam Lestrange," Flitwick muttered, not believing his eyes.
"Convincing, isn't it?" Mia asked. "Don't worry, it's just me. Mia Malfoy."
"Yes, of course," Flitwick nodded slowly. "And the Dementor? Miss Zamora, I expect?"
"Exactly," Sage said, sounding like someone with a sore throat.
"Very well," he nodded, then he turned towards the other Ravenclaws.
Sage nudged Mia and the two of them left the Common Room.
They were on their way towards the Great Hall when they met a group of Gryffindors on the fourth floor. After Mia took a closer look at them, she sighed.
"What the hell?!" Rose stepped closer to them with an outraged expression on her face.
"Good evening to you too," Mia nodded lazily, taking in her appearance. "By the way, where's your costume? We were supposed to dress up."
"I'm a Ministry worker," Rose crossed her arms over her chest.
"How exciting," Mia said sarcastically. "Well, it suits you."
"What do you think you're doing, dressed up like her?!" Rose asked, ignoring her comment.
"I think I'm wearing a costume, just like we were asked."
"And do you think this is okay?! How do you think Professor Longbottom will feel when he sees you, huh?!" Rose went off. "Oh, and also! This woman tortured my mother!"
"Relax, Weasley," Mia gave her a bored look. "This is just a costume, it can't hurt you, I promise."
"Bellatrix!" James appeared, dressed up as Voldemort. He walked closer to Mia, his robes flowing behind him. "My faithful servant!"
Mia snorted. "My Lord," she decided to play along, giving him a little bow.
"You too, James?" Rose gave him a disappointed look.
"Oh, loosen up, will you?" James rolled his red eyes. "This chick killed my middle name, but do you see me getting upset? No. And you know why? Because it's bloody Hallowe'en! Accept the spookiness, or go back to the Ministry. If you're not ready to see some scary costumes, don't even come to the feast. Besides, these people are in the past! And yeah, they did horrible things, so we might as well make fun of them. Look, I can make Voldy dance," he started moving around. "Doesn't he look ridiculous? Nothing to be scared of here, he's just a bald, noseless, dancing old man."
"I can't believe I'm about to say this," Mia looked up at him, "but I actually agree with you for once."
James grinned. "You're my favourite servant for a reason, Bella," he winked.
"It's an honour serving you, My Lord," Mia bowed again.
"Now," James put an arm around her, "I heard you're in love with me –"
"That's enough," Mia freed herself. "Let's go," she turned to Sage, then they continued their way towards the Great Hall.
Just like every other year, the Hall was decorated with all sorts of Hallowe'en-related decorations, like flying bats, huge pumpkins and skeletons.
"Much better than the Valentine's Day decorations, if you ask me," Mia told Sage.
"They're a lot different, that's for sure," Sage nodded.
The two girls sat down at the Ravenclaw table. As Mia took a look around the Great Hall, she noticed that James wasn't the only Voldemort in the room, plus she saw multiple Death Eaters sitting at the Slytherin table. Her eyes fell on Albus, whose left side looked like Dumbledore, and his right side looked like Snape.
While she was staring at the other students, a guy sat down opposite of them, covered in black from head to toe.
"Wakanda Forever!" He exclaimed, crossing his arms in front of him.
Mia frowned. "Wa – what?"
"Wakanda," he repeated himself, then he took his mask off. "I'm the Black Panther."
"Oh, hi, Werhar," Mia nodded. "Sorry, but I have no idea what that is."
"Come on," he gave her a look, then turned to Sage. "You recognise it, right?"
"Oh, uh, yeah, sure," Sage nodded unconvincingly.
"Witches," Werhar rolled his eyes, disappointed. "You're missing out."
"On what, exactly?" Mia questioned.
"Alright, listen," he leaned on the table. "Black Panther is a movie made by Marvel. There are a ton of Marvel movies, they're about superheroes, basically. Muggle-made."
"Not this Marvel thing again..." Mia rolled her eyes. "Let me get this straight, though. People in this school are obsessing over these so-called superheroes made up by muggles, when we are literally magical?"
"Well, yeah... but they're really cool, I swear!" He put a hand over his heart.
"I heard really cool," Max arrived. "Are you talking about me?"
He sat down next to Werhar and examined their costumes.
"Black Panther, nice. A Dementor, I suppose that's why I feel so depressed. Or that might be all the essays I've yet to write, I'm not sure. Bellatrix Lestrange, I thought you were a Slytherin, what are you doing here?" He finished, smiling at Mia.
"This table is cooler," Mia shrugged with a smile. "It's an honour to sit with Mr Ollivander."
"Thank you!" Max threw his hands up in the air. "Some girl thought I was Einstein."
"I thought you were my grandpa," Sage admitted, earning a glare from Max.
Their conversation was interrupted by the Headmistress, who stood up to talk.
"Welcome, everyone, to our annual Hallowe'en feast! This year, we thought it would be interesting to dress up in costumes, and we're glad to know that you liked this idea as well. I hope you all enjoy yourselves this evening. May the feast begin," she said, then the tables were suddenly filled with different kinds of food.
McGonagall sat down and everyone turned their attention on the food.
"The best part," Max said as he filled his plate.
Mia did the same, but her hair kept falling into her face.
"How was she able to live with this?" She muttered, pushing the curly locks back.
"I don't know," Max shrugged. "Just like she was able to live with her sins, maybe?"
"Good point," Mia nodded.
After the feast ended, their little group started heading back towards the Ravenclaw Common Room. When they reached the third floor, Mia saw someone from the corner of her eye.
"Hey," she looked at her housemates, "you guys go ahead, I'll be there in a minute."
"Fine," Max shrugged, "just don't kill anyone."
"Is a little torturing acceptable?" Mia asked jokingly.
"Just a little," Max nodded, then they continued walking without her.
Mia turned around and started walking down the corridor. When she reached a corner, a hand wrapped around her wrist and she was pulled into a hug.
"Surprise," Alexander whispered, smiling.
"I'm not surprised," Mia muttered back. "I saw you, that's why I came here. By the way, you should be more careful. The others could have noticed you."
"Aw, come on!" He pulled away from her. "I just wanted to see you. I have to say, though, blue eyes suit you much better."
"Is that so?" She raised an eyebrow at him, then looked him up and down slowly. "And what are you supposed to be?"
"I'm glad you asked," Alexander grinned. "Check this out."
He grabbed a hilt, then after the push of a button, a blue light was projected from it.
"It's a lightsaber," he explained, then twirled it around his fingers. "Of course, this is just a harmless replica, it's supposed to do damage. Oh, I'm Anakin Skywalker, by the way."
"Skywalker?" Mia asked back with a frown.
"Yeah," Alexander nodded. "From Star Wars."
Mia blinked.
"Oh, come on!" He gave her a look of disbelief. "It's a classic!"
"Well, I don't know who this Skywalker bloke is, but I do know one thing," Mia said quietly, taking a step closer to him.
"Which is?" The Gryffindor raised his eyebrows at her.
"He does have a sense of style. These robes look great on you," she put her hands on his chest.
"You think so?" Alexander grinned, pulling her closer by the waist.
"Yeah, but what's with the scar?" Mia asked, pointing at his right eye.
"It's part of the look," he shrugged. "Makes me look like a badass, doesn't it?"
"Kind of," she smiled up at him, then wrapped an arm around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss.
Just as Alexander started getting more into it, she pulled away from him and took a step backwards.
"I told my friends that I would join them in a minute. I think I'm late already."
He shook his head, a small smile playing on his lips. "You're cruel."
"Well, what did you expect?" Mia broke out in a smile. "I'm Bellatrix Lestrange."
"Right," he nodded. "Actually, that's kind of weird to think about... I just kissed a Death Eater."
"And I just kissed a – whatever you are."
"I'm a Jedi," Alexander straightened his back.
"Of course you are," she nodded. "Well, time's up."
"Okay, Cinderella," he rolled his eyes playfully. "Go before your carriage vanishes."
"My carriage?" Mia tilted her head to the side.
"You know what? Never mind," he waved his hand. "Just go, I'll see you – well... I'll see you. Sometime. Hopefully."
"Goodnight, Alexander," she gave him a small smile.
"Night, Birdie," he smiled back, leaning against the wall.
After taking a last look at him, the Ravenclaw turned around and started walking towards the entrance of their Common Room, that smile still on her face.
A/N:
I wrote this chapter a while before Chadwick Boseman passed away. No words. REST IN POWER. 🖤