I Beg Your Pardon, Potter?

Chapter 12

When Harry came down to breakfast the next morning, it was as if the school had also suddenly realized the Halloween was the following week, as overnight the Great Hall had been covered in jack-o'-lanterns and steams of fake cobwebs. Conversations were alight with halloween costume ideas. Though he had thought about it for a while before going to sleep the night before, he had not come up with anything concrete yet.

"I think I might be Austin Powers," he heard Seamus say as he sat down at the Gryffindor table. Harry had recently been surprised that so many wizards seemed quite well versed in recent muggle movies despite having little knowledge of other muggle entertainment, but then Ron had excitedly shown him the latest in magical technology: moving picture books with sound. And so some muggle movies were now in wide release in the wizarding world. This made coming up with a costume much easier for both Harry and any muggle born students who had not grown up with any wizarding entertainment.

"Is that because you want to go around the party asking everyone if you make them horny?" Hermione asked. For a second she looked very serious, but then a small smile crossed her lips.

"Of course," Seamus replied. "I'm hoping the alcohol loosens everyone's tongues and they will tell me the truth. I'm desperate to know if Blaise fancies me."

"Are you?" Hermione asked, archly. Harry looked up from the pancakes he was piling onto his plate. Hermione was giving Seamus a strange, calculating look that piqued Harry's curiosity. He filed that information away for later as it would be a conversation best had away from the whole group, particularly Ron.

"Among others."

"Of course," she said. Her expression softened back into one of quiet amusement.

"How about you, 'Mione?" Ron asked. "What are you thinking about for your costume?" Hermione tilted her head from side to side and played with her fruit salad while she thought about it.

"I'm not sure," she said eventually.

"You could always be the Vanessa to my Austin," Seamus suggested. "You would look great in that silvery mini-dress." Hermione laughed, blushing. "And Ron could be Dr. Evil."

"I'm going to give that one a hard pass, Shame," Ron said.

"You don't have the balls to be bald?" Seamus asked. He elbowed Ron good-naturedly in the ribs.

"Nothing of the sort. I just have an idea already that I am very excited about. Which is top secret so don't ask."

"You're no fun," said Seamus and instead turned his attention to Harry. "Would you be our Dr. Evil, Har?"

"I'll think about it," Harry said, all the while telling himself that no, no he would not. Seamus shrugged, content at the possible commitment to his costume idea.

"I am serious, Hermione," he reiterated. "I think that would be a great costume for you."

"I might take you up on that," she said, tossing her hair over her shoulder and laughing.

"Harry," Ron said, catching Harry's attention again. "If you've finished your breakfast," which Harry had not, "can we head to potions early? I want to run my costume idea past you." Harry gave a small sigh and looked down at his little stack of pancakes.

"Give me one minute," he said and began to shovel them into his mouth. It was a shame, really. They were fluffy and buttery and smothered in syrup and Harry was not savoring them in the slightest. Still, he was not going to Double Potions on an empty stomach and he felt a little indebted to Ron for not having told him about dating Malfoy (if what they were doing could be called dating).