"Where are you going again?" Vernon asked gruffly as he groaned, stepping down the stairs.
Bustling around the room, Harry looked for something - anything - that could be used as a Halloween costume. "A staff party. Just- work, it's work."
"A party?" Vernon said sharply, and Harry immediately regretted his word choice.
"No, it's not even- it's just a few coworkers and I-"
"Petunia, dear, the boy wants to go to some party!" Vernon exclaimed as his wife walked into the room.
Petunia scoffed. "Well, clearly our message hasn't been strong enough." Putting down the basket of washing, Petunia puts her hands on her hips and looks Harry in the eye. "You're not going."
Trying not to get angry (it never ends well for him or his freedom), Harry stops rifling around the living room for possible costumes. "Please, it's just- I won't even dress up, it's not an important day, I'll still- I'll still be working."
Shaking his head with a laugh, Vernon sat down in front of the television. "Not a chance."
"In fact," Harry said, an idea forming. "I'll probably be paid even less. Because of, um..." Harry's struggle for an excuse didn't seem to matter, as already Vernon was looking thoughtful.
"Prob'ly serves him right," he muttered, and Petunia pursed her lips in agreement. Sticking his hands down the sides of the couch, searching for the remote, Vernon said, "So, s'pose we let you go. How long will you be gone for?"
"Oh, hours, definitely," Harry said confidently. "It will be so peaceful here, you'll forget I ever even existed."
Still unable to find the remote, Vernon's voice was strained as he looked under the coffee table. "You'll be back in time to put the bins out?"
"Yes. And clean the dishes, too." Harry tried not to look at the growing pile of dirty dishes piling up next to the sink.
Rejoicing his success, Vernon fell back onto the couch with the remote. "Found it... and, fine. I... suppose you can go to this one work shift."
Making sure not to look too happy so that Vernon wouldn't change his mind, Harry nodded. "I'll get my bag, then I'll be ready."
Petunia and Vernon made eye contact before Petunia let out a dry laugh. "You forget your place - you think you're actually going to be driven, do you?"
"Ah." Harry looked down and scratched his head. "Right. I'll get my bag and then I'll be ready to leave... to a bus station."
"You sure will."
----
As the bus travelled along the smooth road, Harry looked through his bag. He didn't have many Halloweeny costume options. He found a photo of his uncle when he was younger that was pretty horrifying, but he decided that his coworkers wouldn't appreciate that humour. So he had snuck into Dudley's room and found reindeer antlers that he thought would suffice.
When he arrived at the cafe, there was already the familiar Ford Anglia parked out front as well as a few other cars that Harry could recognise. No incredibly flashy car, however, so Malfoy mustn't be there yet.
Poking his head out of the door, Ron waved to Harry as he came over.
"Where's your costume, mate?" Harry laughed as he came inside. In response, Ron took out a massive white sheet and put it over his head.
"I'm a terrifying ghost."
Harry raised his eyebrows. "You didn't even cut out eyes."
"...Mum said she needed the sheet back."
Ginny walked past them to the back room, dressed in tattered clothes and drawn-on blood. "The 'terrifying' part is when he takes it off and you see his face."
Though his face couldn't be seen, Harry could just imagine what Ron was looking like right then. "Nice zombie costume," Harry pointed out.
Ginny grinned. "Thanks. Luna helped me with the special effects."
Right on cue, a girl with waist-length, dirty blonde hair walked out from the back room, with a costume that could only be described as bizarre.
"Luna," Harry began, trying to come to a conclusion about what on earth she was wearing. "You're... that's a cool costume."
"I know, right? I thought so too." Luna did a little spin. "I'm a Wolpertinger."
Glancing at Ron and Ginny for confirmation, Harry would have laughed if he weren't so confused. "What's a whooping tinker?"
Seeming happy that he asked, Luna smiled and raised her almost invisible eyebrows. "Well it's from Bavaria, specifically the Alpine forests and is usually part deer, part mammal and part bird. People have been trying to recreate it for hundreds of years, but I feel as if this is the most accurate way so far." she leaned forwards slightly. "Wolpertingers haven't actually been spotted yet, you see."
Ginny smiled.
"Alright," Ron cleared his throat, no longer hidden beneath his sheet. "Uh, we should get going to help set up and all.
"Buh-bye." Luna smiled at Harry as he walked past. "By the way, Harry Potter, I am glad we are wearing matching deer horns!"
Harry's "horns" were fabric ones from a dollar store. He was pretty sure that Luna was wearing legitimate horns from a deer as they nearly scraped the ceiling. "Bye, Luna- see you soon."
"Never met anyone weirder in my life," Ron muttered as they went down the stairs.
Harry chose not to respond to that. He had always liked Luna. "Is Hermione here?"
"Obviously she was the first one to arrive," Ron scoffed. "Just down here."
The stairs looked as though they hadn't been used in twenty years, the dust making Harry's eyes water confirming it. Ron squeaking followed by creative curses at a spider scuttling past banished any uncertainty.
"Finally you guys made it." Hermione straightened up, her cat ears just peeking out within her frizzy hair that fanned out around her Cheshire Cat onesie. "Can you hang up those streamers?"
"Yes chief." Ron saluted before bundling up his ghost sheet and marching off.
Hermione dumped a small cooler box into Harry's hands. "Take this with him, please."
"Cool tiger costume!"
After giving him a disapproving look, Hermione dusted off her hands. "More work, less talk. And it's Cheshire Cat, you buffoon." At Harry's blank stare, she added, "From Alice in Wonderland?"
"Just let it go, Harry," Ron said from the corner of the room. "Also, 'Mione, there are old decorations over here. Looks like somebody had a party down here years ago."
"Good." Hermione said busily, pinning down a sign-up sheet that no one was going to touch. "Utilise them appropriately."
"We're here to help!" Ginny announced, walking down the stairs with Luna whose costume's wings scraped the dusty walls, the antlers disturbing spider webs on the ceiling.
"Great, an annoying little kid." Ron said, hefting beers from a plastic bag into the cooler box and then chuckling. "Thank god we didn't invite McGonagall or any of the adults. We can actually go crazy!"
"Don't tell Mum." Ginny winked, grabbing one of the beers. "I may be seventeen but I'm more mature than anyone in this room. Except maybe Hermione."
Dusting off his hands, Ron stood up. "So, is that everyone?"
"Draco's not here," Harry responded, frowning.
Ginny scoffed. "I bet he won't show up. Why did we have to invite him again?"
"I think he's not as bad as he's made out to be," Luna said airily, earning sceptical glances. "I can only imagine that the pressure of an esteemed family such as the Malfoys can make one quite stressed."
"Can make someone a dickhead, maybe." Ron said, crossing his arms. "The Malfoys don't seem too grand now, though. Since Lucius got out of prison, their rep has been like a dumpster on fire."
Around the room, people nodded their approval.
Ron leant back in a foldable seat, his hands reaching for the cooler box. "So can we just start without him?"
"Not so fast, Weasley."