As Halloween Approaches....

[arianna]

Glitter, paper, glue, scissors. Anything you might need for an art/craft project, Arianna had it. And all was currently laid out before her on the floor of the common room. What else could she be doing but making up decorations for Ravenclaw? And if anyone wanted to join her, she wouldn't complain.

"You, sir, are going to have fun in here, aren't you?" She questioned a paper-mache spider before tapping it with her wand. It came to life and scurried across the floor right under the nose of a little black cat. The cat made no hesitation before pouncing on the spider. Arianna giggled with glee and returned to her next project, wondering how Juniper might like having a bat to chase, too.

[Allegra Thornton]

Allegra jumped over spider and cat before plopping down on the floor across from Arianna. She looked amused at the art supplies spread out between them and she picked up a scrap piece, holding it over her face and peeking out of the two cut outs.

"Are we still going trick or treating this year?" she asked. It was a Ravenclaw tradition and she had yet to hear about any plans to do so.

[arianna]

Arianna stopped mid-batwing-fold and stared at Allegra with an expression that clearly said she wondered who would ever think they WOULDN'T go.

"I don't know about anyone else," she replied, turning back to her folding, holding it away from Juniper as the cat darted over her lap after his spider, "but I certainly am."

[Allegra Thornton]

"Well then if nothing else, it will just be the two of us," Allegra said firmly, dropping her makeshift mask and picking up a bright orange piece of paper and a pair of scissors. Just a few snips in the right place and it would make a very nice jack o'lantern. "Sometimes I think Drew and Hiro still expect me and Kellen to do all of the planning," she said with a frown as she started cutting.

[arianna]

Arianna rolled her eyes. She hated to say anything about the two prefects, but some days....Some days she wondered if Raynor had been sane the day she sent out the badges.

"What're they going to do next year, with the two of you gone?" she asked. Setting her completed paper bat upon the floor, Arianna tapped it with her wand, using the same charm she had used on the spider. Just like the spider, it came to life, flapping its wings in a fury to get into the air.

[Allegra Thornton]

"I'm hoping they'll finally step up since they won't have us to fall back on," Allegra said with a sigh. She really didn't like talking bad about her brother, and she knew he and Hiro could do the job right. She just wished they actully would once in a while.

Her pumpkin was finished and she pasted a green stem on top of his head before flicking her wand at the paper jack o'lantern. By the time she had moved onto the next piece of paper, it was grimacing and making its own scary faces at whoever would look at it.

[kyleh]

As Halloween near, Kyle missed his family even more. He knew Hogwarts had some top-notch Halloween feast and such, but it's still not home. How he wished he could go home and play with his buddies in the neighbourhood. They could help each other with their costumes. Of course Aileen would be part of it too, although she was always dressing up as something nice and pretty instead of nasty and scary.

Because of this home-sickness, he wrote another letter to his family. He came down from the boys dorm, and was about to go to the owlery, when he saw the two girls with all the decorations.

"I thought they only use floating candles as the Halloween decor here?" he asked, watching the good old Jack O'Lantern making some really interesting faces.

[Allegra Thornton]

"In the Great Hall, maybe," Allegra answered. "But that doesn't mean we can't add our own decorations for the common room, right?" She quickly cut out and charmed another jack o'lantern before getting tired of pumpkins. Her favorite characters had always been the muggle versions of ghosts with their white sheets and cut out eyes. She decided to work on some of those next.

[charonholler]

Charon wandered into the common room. He'd heard there would be a Halloween ball, and he'd been in the Room of Requirement getting things he needed. Specifically, a red cloak with gold embroidery. It seemed a bit Gryffindor-ish, but it would be truly Halloween-y when combined with the rest of the costume. Of course, going through the common room meant passing by Allegra and Ari and their work. And passing by meant stopping to see what was up.

Putting his new cloak on a nearby chair, and picking up some red feathers that fell out, he asked, "What are you all doing? Making decorations?" This could be fun. He could easily think up some things to use for decorations. "If you all want help, I've got some ideas that are certainly in the Halloween spirit. No pun intended," he offered.

[arianna]

"Don't forget the floating pumpkins," Arianna put in, wondering how anyone could miss that part of the Halloween feast. Tapers and pumpkins hovering in the air...She still didn't tire of the site.

Reaching for another black paper, Arianna looked up as someone entered. Charon. She hadn't seen him in a while. Had he been hiding? Maybe she'd have to ask.

"Yeah, you can help," she nodded, folding the paper in halves and then quarters. "We're up for any ideas you might have."

[charonholler]

Charon sat on the floor between Ari and Allegra, creating a triangle. He started rummaging through the supplies as he asked, "Have you thought of making a will o' the wisp? Or a dancing skeleton?" He racked his brain for more muggle superstitions, trying to think of something useful. He found some white cloth and an idea occurred to him. "Or how about Druids? From what I understand, Halloween used to be a pagan holiday before the Christians took it and made it 'All Hallow's Eve'." The idea of little Druids running around making sacrifices at a miniature Stonehenge was really quite cool. He started making little cloaks out of the white cloth and looked around for something to serve as a body.

[Allegra Thornton]

"That sounds cool!" Allegra answered excitedly as Charon gave his ideas. Her little ghosties were coming along quite nicely and as she finished one, she would send it up into the air to zip around the common room.

[arianna]

"Druids, huh?" Arianna looked over the paper and quickly unfolded it, already imagining how she could refold it into a druid-like figure. Starting out with a water-bomb base, she tested a few folds before undoing it again and trying with a lily base. This would certainly take a while....