Please remind me why we are doing this

[Arianna Tipley]

Arianna put the final touches to her costume, which consisted mostly of a large shell on her back. Ugh she thought, manouvering awkwardly, not used to the bulk. She swore under her breath as she turned, accidentally knocking her clock off her bedside table. Grumbling, she attempted to bend down to pick it up, but almost fell flat on her face. So she hurriedly scooped up her wand, and levitated it back onto the table. Catching a glimpse of the time, she frowned, tucking stray strands of hair behind her ear impatiently. Knowing that she was late, she shoved her feet into her shoes, not bothering to lace them up. Secretly, she hoped that Austin looked as stupid as she did. It wouldn't be so bad sharing this costume with somebody else. She ran, or rather shuffled as fast as she could, out of the Dormitory.

As Ari walked down to the Great hall, she tried very hard to ignore the giggles and stares that were directed her way. Reaching the Entrance Hall, she glanced around Austin, the boy she only met once. It seemed strange that a short conversation in the Library had led to this. She tried to be inconspicuous as she waited for Austin, hoping that she didn't see anyone she knew.

 

[Austin Zhefarovich]

Austin had the green shell on his bed, but right now, he was putting on facial paint so it would be hard to recognize him, but it went splendidly for the green shell with bright yellow circles on it. Sure, he would look so silly, even his adopted sister would laugh at him, but he wouldn't have to worry about Aleyha. She was spending the day with some guy. Austin slipped on his yellow shirt and had on yellow pants to match. A promise was a promise, and he made it to a girl that he met once. He was going to met with her again, and it set his heart into over-drive. What if she had forgotten? He also wore green converses, and he laced them up. He too was running late. Putting the shell on, Austin winced a bit. It was really hard to move around! And he was in the towers! Slowly but surely, he made his way down to the Halloween Feast from the top of the towers.

Entering the Great Hall, he heard many laughs and felt stares, but Austin simply ignored them. Gazing around, Austin gasped when he saw yet another hermit crab in the hall. So, she did remember! thought Austin. Walking - okay, it was more like wobbling - over to the other crab, he spoke light-heartedly, "Gee, I wonder how these animals can live in these shells! They are awfully heavy!" Austin may have been nervous, but because he was getting out more to enjoy himself, try to make a few friends here and there, and attempting to cover up that he was upset over the 'death' of his step-mother Cecily, he was going to force himself to have a great time tonight.

 

[Arianna Tipley]

Arianna smiled brightly when she saw another shell moving towards her across the Entrance hall. Pushing off from the wall, she struggled to keep her balance as she walked over to meet him "Hey, you look great!" she said, before frowning "Damn it, you look great" she grumbled "I look like a... a bad version of you" she finished lamely, before laughing, the smile reappearing on her face. Sighing, she looked towards the doors to the Great hall "So, are we going to do this?" she asked, looking up into his face, which he had cleverly painted. Even through the paint, she could make out his handsome features. She looked down at the ground, biting her lip, and trying to keep her face from reddening. She couldn't help but admire him, she was only human after all.

"I don't know, aye" she replied, her Canadian accent obvious "Luckily, we are only in them for tonight" she said, smiling "Because you could not pay me enough to wear this thing again" she said, twisting her head around to look down at her shell.

 

[Austin Zhefarovich]

Austin laughed when she said that he looked great. “Yeah, but you look a lot cuter than me. Boys don’t look cute, even in a big shell.” Austin blinked his emerald eyes and he laughed once more. It was easy to laugh with Arianna around. He would never understand why this was. Then again, as a growing boy, he would never understand much of anything. Austin had this new habit of crushing on every girl that he met, or he thought that the girl was insanely beautiful. It could work either way with Arianna, even with a huge shell as a costume. “Yes, we are going to do this.” Austin, though he was no Gryffindor, was not going to back down from this. It was a challenge to him.

Austin thought for a moment, and he glanced at his own shell and he joked, “I think I could do this thing once every other weekend. It gets rather comfortable after a bit.” Austin was in no way serious. He couldn’t wear this thing, but he wasn’t about to throw it away. This was an awesome creation, one that he spent forever painting. “After all that walking, I am rather wanting some pumpkin juice.”

 

[Arianna Tipley]

Arianna smiled in thanks, battling the blush that was threatening to turn her whole face red "Thanks. Boys can be cute... But only three year old ones" she said a little cheekily "But, you look very dashing" she said. How it was possible for somebody to look dashing, when they had a huge shell on their back, Ari didn't know, but Austin somehow managed it. She sighed, her last chance of running back to the Common room gone "Okay then" she said, her tone not quite as determined as his. Finding the last scraps of dignity she had, Ari held her head a little higher. Who cares if I see any friends? she thought to herself I have a new friend right here that seems to think I look cute... In a shell she couldn't help smile.

Rolling her eyes, Arianna looked at him eyebrows raised "If I didn't know that you were joking, I would take you to the Hospital wing" she said, before glancing at the shells again. "Sure" she said, pumpkin juice sounded like a good idea "Now, we just need to into the Hall, without knocking all the First years to the ground" she said slowly.

 

[Austin Zhefarovich]

Austin had to admit, Arianna had an excellent sense of humor. He admired that greatly. He enjoyed not only making someone laugh, but laughing himself. It wasn’t hard to make Austin laugh, but still, he enjoyed it nonetheless. Chuckling, Austin replied, “I think I was a cute three-year-old at one point. Does that count? And thanks. Still don’t think I look as good as ya though.” Austin wondered if she wasn’t as excited about this as he was. Last time he had dressed up, he was a scary looking maniac, and now, he was a hermit crab. What was there to not be excited about? Beaming, he wanted to give her as much support as possible. If she wasn’t going to have a fun time tonight, then he would help out in any possible way he could.

“Oh, there is nothing wrong with a little silly fun. But you are right, I was totally joking,” a light blush escaped, making the face paint look darker for a moment. Austin shrugged, the best that he could and said with a smirk on his face, “Eh, they should move. If they get knocked down, they should be honored. Getting knocked down by shells is a hard achievement from what I heard.” Austin had a mischievous glint to his green eyes, but he was taking the matter rather lightly. He slowly headed toward the table with pumpkin juice. Austin then asked Arianna, “If you don’t want to walk more than you have to, I can bring you the juice.” He gave her a charming smile.

 

[Arianna Tipley]

Arianna smiled “I think we were all cute three year olds” She said, hesitating before saying “You can’t have changed much then” Again, she battled a blush, this time not believing that those words had come out of her mouth. Flirting wasn’t usually her thing. She changed the subject quickly “Equal then? So, how did you make your shell look so good? And that was a really good idea with the face paint” She spoke rapidly, trying to cover her previous words up.

“No, sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. I knew you were joking” Arianna said smiling up at him. She laughed at his words “Yes, I suppose you’re right. Shells aren’t normally so… Massive” she said “But I wouldn’t want to ruin one of those little kids first Halloween” she said, looking over at an excited group “I swear we were never that small…” She often thought that, whenever she saw the new groups of First years around. She could remember being equally excited though. She didn’t even want to think about her first Halloween costume.
Arianna followed him over to the table “Why thank you” she said, smiling “I can manage though. Better get used to this thing” She said, reaching behind her to pat the shell.