The Gryffindor sixth-year dormitory was empty, except for the lone young man standing at the corner of the dorm, looking out of the window. A giddy smile was plastered on his youthful, handsome face, and though he appeared to be gazing at the Quidditch Pitch, he was actually lost deep in his own world, the world of his dreams. The reason for his delight was not the Quidditch match being played outside, which Gryffindor was leading, nor the wonderful weather, not too sunny, nor too cold. It was because Cho Chang, arguably the most beautiful girl in all of Hogwarts, had finally agreed to meet him in Hogsmeade. He remembered her face, her beautiful expression that had mesmerized him for so long, when she had said the magical word. Yes. It was at the same spot that he was gazing at, just outside the pitch. He couldn’t keep his eyes off that spot; it was too tantalisingly beautiful all of a sudden.
After a year of moping over Cedric, Cho had finally decided to move ahead in life. Dean had used it as a perfect opportunity, building a relationship brick by brick, never going beyond a certain limit. It had begun with the meeting and slow smiles on the corridors, then going to the extent of greetings when they had met. Slowly, but surely, she had begun warming up to the idea of going out with someone. When she had needed support, he’d been at hand. When she had needed a shoulder to cry upon, he had gladly lent his. Still, he’d not asked her out, because of two reasons, mainly. One was that he was unsure of her reaction, and felt that she wasn’t through with the grief of losing Cedric, and the second, one which he refused to acknowledge, was that he was afraid of being rejected.
Dean loved Cho; every single aspect of hers enchanted him beyond reason. He was completely at a loss for words when it came to describing her. He’d never tried to draw a portrait of hers, as he knew she was too perfect to be put down on lowly paper. Every time he saw her walk, he was lost in another world. Her talk never actually went into his head; he was tantalized by the mere sound of her melodious voice. Her response to each of his queries was so eloquent, and she had that way of making him feel so lost, all the time. Even when she was crying, she was beautiful; and her shy smile, that was just too captivating. Dean often wondered if he was actually worthy of her, and every time, he came up with one single answer. Yes
Finally, he had felt the need to move ahead with their relationship, taking it to a new level. It had been outside the Quidditch Pitch, just after Ravenclaw had won a match against Slytherin. He’d met her outside the pitch, close to the Forbidden Forest, at the edge of the lake.
‘Congratulations, Cho. You were brilliant out there.’
‘Thanks, Dean, that’s kind of you to say,’ she’d replied, her cheeks turning slightly red.
‘Err…I wanted to talk to you about something else,’ he said, unsure of what to say.
‘Yes?’
‘Mmm….This Saturday…..We can go to Hogsmeade, right…….so, I….I wanted to ask if you could come with me.’
She’d laughed, and then responded, ‘Of course, why not?’
‘Dean, mate?’ Seamus had entered the dormitory, and was looking at Dean, wondering what on earth he was doing there.
‘Dean!’ shouted Seamus again, walking up to him and shaking him hard, bringing him back to his senses. ‘Why aren’t you in Ancient Runes —shouldn’t you be there right now?’ asked Seamus, once he was sure that Dean had been awakened from his daydreaming.
‘Oh, no, I totally forgot,’ Dean said, realising his mistake. ‘I need to rush, I’m so late.’
Dean raced out of the dormitory, leaving a very bemused Seamus in his wake. Seamus wondered what on earth could’ve kept him so engaged that he’d forgotten totally about Ancient Runes, a class which Dean usually enjoyed. He’d been acting a little weird for the past two days, missing lunch, skipping classes, and acting totally detached during conversations. It was so unlike Dean, and he wanted to find out why. So, the next time they’d met, Seamus confronted him.
The confrontation took place in their dormitory, just after dinner that night. The room was almost empty, with nothing to interrupt them other than the ghosts which moved through the empty corridors. The wind howled as it blew in through the half-open window, and it was the only other source of noise other than the muted noises which reached them from the Great Hall. Seamus spoke up, his voice penetrating the silence which hung upon their dorm like a veil.
‘What’s up with you these days? You seem so unlike your usual self.’ Seamus asked.
‘Mmm, nothing, Seamus... nothing wrong with me,’ Dean replied, though he knew Seamus wasn’t convinced. Seamus raised his eyebrow, looked at Dean peculiarly, as though he knew there was something wrong, and then just went to his four-poster bed to do his homework.
Dean couldn’t get himself to reveal his secret to Seamus yet; he was too embarrassed, and too ashamed to do so. He mutely walked up to his four-poster bed, and began to blindly turn pages from his Ancient Runes text, his mind set upon Cho.
‘Dean,’ called Seamus suddenly, as though he’d just remembered something.
‘Yes?’
‘We’re going trick-or-treating this Hallowe’en like always, aren’t we?’
Dean was instantly reminded of his date with Cho. How would she react to that? Dean was apprehensive, but he knew he couldn’t refuse Seamus. It was, after all, a tradition that they’d followed ever since their first year, and if he were to refuse to go trick-or-treating, questions would be asked. Questions would require explanations, and Dean wasn’t sure if he was ready for that yet. He didn’t want to be taunted by everyone around, and definitely didn’t want Seamus to feel offended that he’d put Cho before him.
‘Yes, that’s still on, mate,’ he said, sounding totally unenthusiastic about the entire thing.
Seamus returned to his homework without further comment, wondering what on earth could’ve changed Dean so much so that their relationship had deteriorated to such a level. He’d changed so much in such a short gap of time. __________________________________________________________________________
The morning of October, the 31st dawned, overcast, cloudy, with a light drizzle moistening up the parched, dry soil. Dean was apprehensive, and hadn’t slept throughout the previous night. He and Seamus were to go out to Hogsmeade alone; Cho would meet him later near Madam Puddifoot’s. He was anxious, and as they went down to breakfast, he simply lost his appetite. Pretending to appear cool and calm, he sat towards the corner of the table, away from Cho, and nearer to the bathroom. His stiff and erect manner didn’t go down well with the other boys, especially Seamus; and all of them gave him confused looks, exchanged glances, and got back to their food once more.
‘Dean, let’s go upstairs to get dressed up for the occasion,’ said Seamus cheerfully, excited to go trick-or-treating again. He’d learnt it from Dean during their first year, and he prided himself in knowing this tradition, as it was something which other wizards like him didn’t know about. It cut him out from the rest, and also was a lot of fun, so Seamus was always excited during Hallowe’en season.
They’d always dressed up in varying costumes every season, each time different from the other. Their weirdness had ranged from a Muggle rock star called ‘John Lennon’, whom Dean seemed to like, to dressing up like Peeves, which had been most hilarious.
This time around, Dean had planned to dress up in a werewolf’s attire, with Seamus dressing up like a banshee, with a high screechy voice to go with it.
‘D’ ya recommend this’d go well with me voice?’ he asked, once he’d worn his magically altered cloak over his now ghost-like face.
‘Grr, yeah,’ roared Dean, getting into the spirit of the season. He’d altered his facial features to make him look grotesque, and his hands and legs were covered with tufts of hair, a work of hair-growing potion stolen from the Potion stores. His clothes were ripped apart at many places, and he’d made sure they looked natural, and not cut out. A tuft of hair was fitted to his cloak, and he truly looked like an intimidating creature, at least from a distance.
They went down to the common room, met Harry and Ron, both of whom laughed at their new costumes, as they’d done every year. They were unconcerned, and thought the whole thing was a complete joke. Dean and Seamus looked at them nonchalantly, and walked straight through the gates, before Filch could catch them. On their way to Hogsmeade, they got many curious glances, most of which were amused, and some of which were apprehensive of their scary appearance. Thankfully, they were not met by Cho, or her group of giggling friends. Dean had been afraid of that, but once they reached The Three Broomsticks, he shed all his insecurity, and began chatting up Rosmerta, the chatty, and curvy barmaid.
‘Trick-or treat?’ He asked, winking at her.
‘Oh, you boys never learn,’ she sighed, and handed them a pint of Butterbeer.
‘Thanks, Rosmerta,’ cried Seamus’ screechy voice, and everyone in the pub looked most alarmed at the noise at first.
‘Out you go, right NOW,’ she admonished, and Dean and Seamus made their way to Honeydukes. They were given sweets at almost all places they went to, except at the Hog’s Head, where they didn’t venture out into, scared of the toothless barman, and the aura inside the dingy place.
‘Let’s have lunch,’ cried the banshee Seamus, and Dean quickly cast a Silencio to shut out the noise. He couldn’t bear it for too long; it was getting on his nerves.
‘Well, umm…I’ll meet you at the pub, Seamus. I need to buy ….umm…. a quill from Dervish and Banges.’ Dean hoped Seamus hadn’t noticed his stuttering, and wanted to get away. Semus nodded, and said something which went unheard, as Dean walked away as soon as he saw the nod.
He was at Madam Puddifoot’s where he’d expected to meet Cho, and when he saw her, he completely forgot about his attire, and ran towards her as soon as he saw her. A high pitched shriek filled the entire street, as Cho jumped back at the sight of the horrendous creature in front of her eyes. Two or three boys came running towards her, and started pelting stones at Dean. Cowering from the huge array of stones and objects being pelted at him, Dean ran away towards the edge of the woods, and once he felt he was safe, he transfigured his face and removed his attire again.
Hurriedly, he went towards Madam Puddifoot’s, where a small crowd had gathered around the hysterical Cho. No one bothered about his sudden appearance, all were more bothered about the situation and Cho.
‘What’s happening around here?’ Dean asked in an innocent voice.
‘Oh, Dean, thank Merlin you arrived.’ Cho immediately responded, calming down at once. The crowd around her slowly dissolved, leaving the two to sort out the rest, and Dean finally ushered her into the cosy shop, all decked up for the Halloween.
‘What happened?’ Dean enquired, and Cho began narrating her experience with the monster. Although Dean knew about it, he wanted her to unburden all her shock from the experience, and so, he heard her out patiently. They ordered Halloween Special Pumpkin Pie, and began conversing quite informally, once the initial shock of the experience had evaporated.
‘So, how was your day?’ Dean attempted, trying to begin a conversation regarding something other than what had just happened. He really didn’t want to be reminded of that once again.
‘Other than what just happened, it was nice. We went to Honeydukes, Dervish and Banges, and the Three Broomsticks, of course. I didn’t see you anywhere, though; where were you?’ She replied, returning slowly to her original, shy self.
Dean squirmed in his seat. There was no way he could tell her about his escapade, not after what happened just an hour ago. She looked at him questioningly, and he looked down, trying to evade that question, without making it sound too obvious that he was trying to change track.
Suddenly, the door opened, and in came a banshee, looking very spooky in the atmosphere. ‘Dean, what are you doing here? You were supposed to be at the Three Broomsticks. And where is your costume?’ the banshee shrieked, sounding as worse as Mrs. Weasley when she sent a howler.
Cho looked back and forth at the two boys, and suddenly realising the true fact, looked at Dean with nothing but pure hatred in her shining eyes, and yelled; ‘You…….you played such a trick on me! I hate you Dean Thomas, and I hope we will never see each other again.’ She half-walked half-barged out of the door, leaving a broken-hearted and angry Dean in her wake.
A Confusing Conundrum by Hermoine Jean Granger
Story Notes:
This is Hermoine Jean Granger of Ravenclaw writing for the in-house Halloween Rare-pair challenge.
Chapter Notes: I would like to thank Alison/R_Ravenclaw for betaing this for me.