A Night To Remember

[Ezra Shaffer]

Ezra Shaffer walked into the Great Hall for the annual Halloween feast with Karah Love on the crook of his arm. It had been quite a surprise to him that Karah had agreed to go to the feast with him as his date. As far as the Slytherin was aware, Karah was still seeing Michael, much to Ezra's displeasure. Frankly, Ezra didn't see what Karah liked about the Ravenclaw boy. Something must be up with them since Karah was not going to be attending the feast with him. Ezra wasn't complaining though. He got exactly what he wanted. The Slytherin would be spending the evening with his Gryffindor best friend. Ezra had agreed to wait for Karah at the foot of the staircase. When he caught a glimpse of those fiery red locks, he had wolf whistled at her with a giant grin on his face. Ezra was always happy to see her. Ezra had dressed tonight as a muggle solider and he intended to act just as gentlemanly as soldiers should act. He bowed to her and presented her with a single red rose. He had offered her his arm and into the great hall they had gone.

Ezra was still smitten with the Gryffindor prefect as he had been for the past year. Of course, she was his best friend, but he also had feelings for her as more than just friends. One might even say that the sixteen year old boy was in love with his best friend. It was more than her veela charm that was always so concerning to Karah. Ezra loved her for so much more than that. The Slytherin knew all of her strengths, however he also knew all of her weaknesses. Still, he loved her. Ezra's blue eyes scanned the hall, looking at the magnificent decorations that the staff had gone all out with. It was a much different atmosphere than the place that they typically saw as the Great Hall. All of the house tables had been rearranged so that all of the students would sit together if they wished to eat food. Ezra looked at Karah, a grin on his face. "Where would you like to go first, Kare?" he asked her in a pleasant, cheerful voice.

 

[Michael Harper]

The time of year had arrived for the Hallowe'en Feast already. It seemed like only yesterday to Michael that he had attended his first holiday feast at Hogwarts, it was clichéd but true. But in this, his fifth year at Hogwarts, the feast was going to be particularly special as Michael had been planning his outfit for weeks with his friend Azolla. Both he and the Slytherin girl had quite a sense of humour, something that he had quickly found was wasted on his girlfriend Karah. It was part of the reason that as of late they had been beginning to drift apart. The Ravenclaw was unsure whether there really was anyone in particular to blame for their cooling relationship, once they had adored each other, been best friends and lovers, but something was driving a wedge between them, and what Michael didn't know was that he was partly to blame for that wedge. Unbeknownst to Michael, spending time with another girl didn't bode well with girlfriends, yet still he seemed clueless when it came to spending time with Azolla. He assumed that Karah understood they were best friends, nothing more, at least that was how Michael felt. Sure, he had noticed how beautiful Zo was, but he had not guessed that she felt quite strongly about him, he had never been good with those kinds of signs. This was evident in the fact that Michael saw it fit to attend the Hallowe'en feast with Zo, and not his girlfriend. In his mind he was saving Karah the trouble, he knew she wouldn't have wanted to be seen dead in the couples costume he had thought up, so it was only logical that he took Azolla, who had loved the idea from the very start. That idea was one which he and Zo dearly hoped would win the award for 'Funniest Costume' or at least he wished for their hard work to be acknowledged. The pair had put their heads together and come up with the costume of the Sorting Stool for Michael and the Sorting Hat for Azolla. Michael thought it was hilarious, and had been in stitches as he had dressed in his brown suit and strapped an old stool atop his head, and made his way to the entrance of the Great Hall where he was to meet Azolla, his date for the night.

Zo was only a few minutes behind him, and as soon as he spotted her dressed in black and cobwebs peeping out from beneath the oversized hat atop her head his smile beamed. You know I only suggested this costume because I wanted you to sit on my head, right?" he joked nervously, hoping she knew it wasn't true, because he was sure it would be most uncomfortable on his end. The idea was that Michael would kneel down and Zo would stand behind him, only her hat showing as though it was perched on top of the stool. "Shall we?" he suggested, motioning towards the Great Hall, he was ever so eager to see the decorations which he so adored. "I'll piggy back you!" he said as he jumped a little from excitement, he had forgotten all about his girlfriend Karah, he hadn't even thought of whether she would attend the feast on her own, or even with somebody else. He hadn't even considered it in his selfishness with Azolla. So clueless and elated he bent down waiting for Zo to jump onto his back so the odd pair could make their way into the Great Hall and begin to enjoy the festivities. ​

 

[Karah Love]

Although Karah should be disheartened that Michael did not ask her to go to the Halloween Feast with her she couldn't care less. She was going with Ezra and they would have, she hoped, a wonderful evening free of any drama although she was certain that there would be a field day at the fact that she and the blonde Slytherin would be walking into the Great Hall together. Karah shook her head to herself, she wasn't going to let that bug her tonight and would just do what she wanted. What she wanted right now was to put her grey Oxfords on and meet Ezra so she did just that after checking that her make-up was some sort of resemblance to a female Frankenstein's monster. She didn't actually know what her friend was going as but hoped that she would at least be able to recognize him in whatever get up he chose.

After a bit of a walk Karah saw Ezra standing at the bottom of the staircases and heard him whistle at her. As she walked down a strong urge to say 'Tell me about it, stud' came over her instead a blush tinged her cheeks and she smiled brightly as she looked at him, taking in his handsome features until she stood in front of him. She found herself looking away in the meek way that came naturally to girls like Karah Love when around boys like Ezra Shaffer. She had to keep herself from hugging him tightly to her as he gave her a rose, something Michael never had, but as she took his arm she held it close to her and said, "Thank you," quietly. The young prefect walked into the Great Hall on her best friend's arm, no longer flushing with embarrassment at the affection and attention from Ezra but wide eyed at the detail that was spent on transforming the beautiful room to something more haunting. And yet there was something still so lovely about it but her eyes were stolen from the decorations and back to Ezra. "Let's dance, Soldier," she said with a cheeky wink, taking his hand and eagerly pulling him onto the dance floor where there were several groups of girls dancing in a circle together, couples, and people like Ezra an who were in a state of limbo between the two.​

 

[Azolla Loncar]

It had been decided long ago that All Hallows Eve would be the favourite event of Azolla Loncar's so when Michael had come up with the idea of a joint costume she had jumped at the chance. Now that it was coming to fruition she was wondering vaguely why it had not been Karah putting on a close representation of the Sorting Hat instead of her. She knew that things were difficult between the two but to her best knowledge they were together. Perhaps this was Michael's way of telling Azolla that it was all over, that finally she could feel things without it also being tinged with guilt. She had been acting more and more "Slytherin" lately and she hated herself for being that mean stereotype so it would be a load off of her back and would perhaps keep her from becoming what she so detested. Azolla hoped that there wouldn't be any drama tonight between the four of them but knew she couldn't put it past any of them but also knew that one was a Prefect and she had to tread lightly around the entire situation. The last thing she wanted was to get a detention because Karah was bitter. The dark haired Slytherin shrugged this out of her mind as she reached her costume partner who was dressed as a Sorting Stool and all in brown which probably would make the first years titter quietly. Aside from the urination jokes that Michael would receive she did hope that people thought their costume was funny as they'd spent some time conjuring up some spells and finding pieces for their outfights at Brightstone.

Azolla laughed in the same anxious tone that Michael joked with as they greeted one another with big smiles although she did wonder if they would be able to stay up if that was attempted. She thought better than to actually act on it. Instead she nodded her head excitedly and walked in the Great Hall with Michael only stopping when he jumped about and suggested he gave her a piggy-back ride and eagerly jumped up onto him and wrapped her legs loosely around him but her arms holding onto his chest tightly, as if she were hugging him and said merrily, "This was a fantastic idea!" She rested her head on his shoulder so they could talk as Michael walked the pair of them about. She felt sort of like Napoleon on his horse but quickly dashed that thought away because she was hardly planning on murdering large amounts of people or ruling a nation. Instead Azolla inhaled Michael's scent and smiled to herself before hiding her face in his shoulder blade, embarrassed that he might have seen her feelings bubble to the top.
​

 

[Ezra Shaffer]

Ezra Shaffer grinned as the redheaded veela pulled him out into the throng of students dancing in the room. He went with her willingly. Ezra was a decent dancer, certainly not the best but not the worst either. His sister, Arielle had informed him two summers ago that it was vital to his education that she teach him how to dance, never mind the fact that she needed him to escort her to some stupid charity ball. His sister was a two-time Olympic gymnast. She had never particularly had time to date, or even meet many boys who were not gymnasts or at least some sort of athlete. The blonde Slytherin had taken pity on his older sister not knowing she would force him to dance with her. Yet, he couldn't help but be grateful for Arielle right now. It was the difference between him spinning Karah around the dance floor and being the school laughing stock.

Ezra smiled at Karah, twirling her in a circle. He hoped that the Gryffindor prefect was having a good time and not thinking about her lame boyfriend. He dipped her down suddenly, taking advantage of the night and her position at this moment. He pressed his lips to those soft, lush ones that so often occupied his thoughts. Ezra knew that they were in the middle of the Great Hall with their fellow students, but he couldn't help but careless who saw him kiss his best friend. It was brief, and Ezra smiled cheekily at Karah. It was definitely not their first kiss. Karah knew Ezra had feelings for her. She had to. The Slytherin boy had never been covert about his feelings for his veela friend. "I know, I know. I couldn't help it though. I just had to kiss you at least once tonight, but I promise to remain on my best behavior for the rest of the night." he told her sincerely.