The fall had been busy for Grace Eddy. Her continued Herbology studies with Bombay on top of her Auror training hardly Thllowed much time for a social life, but at least she was lucky enough to live and work with one of her best friends. And the restbof her roommates kept her home life from being anything close to boring. There was always something to do, whether it was sharing work stories, eating meals like the Hogwarts days, or even playing a game or two before "lights out", though they didn't have anyone policing them but each other.

During one night of discussion, Grace and Fauna came up with plans for a Halloween party to share with their roommates, friends and younger colleagues. Nothing crazy, but still something to help them remember that they were still young and fabulous.

Though they established a SuperHero theme, they weren't super serious about it. But they had both managed to find costumes befitting the theme and also using their former house colors.

They had gotten most of the set up work the night before but Grace rushed home from work to help put the finishing touched on the food and then put her costume on.

Dropping her bags on the dining table, she called, "Fauna! You home?"

Fauna stood in front of the bathroom mirror, pulling her yellow top down an inch, then up again, wiggling uncomfortably. She turned sideways, inspecting her reflection.

"Where have you been all my life?" She stared at her boobs, then bit back a snicker. Fauna had on a black, belted sheer vest over her yellow dress, and over that a black jacket. She'd found most of these things in the dredges of her closet, except for the necklace with an 'S' on it, and her boots, which she'd gotten shopping with Akiva earlier today. For a cheap Silk Spectre outfit, she was pretty proud of it, and only hoped her flatmates would not settle for Superman t-shirts.

At the sound of the door, Fauna was already hurrying toward the stairs, recognizing the particular sound of Grace's footfalls (lighter than the Fayette twins', and quicker than Brett's).

"Grace!" Fauna called out, clunking down the steps. She'd managed to escape the clutches of Level Two faster than Grace had, simply by turning tail and scurrying when she'd overheard Pratt grumbling over his paperwork. Sometimes it paid off being a tad shorter than the cubicle walls.

"Are you sure about this hero, thing?" She appeared in the dining room, fiddling with her vest.

"Does everything look ok? Should I change anything?"

Grace headed towards the stairs when she heard Fauna's response from the second floor. As she reached them, she heard the sound of footsteps. Her dark eyes settled on Fauna's descending figure and she took in the costume.

"Way to go, Fauna!" she teased with a grin. "Not just a superhero, but super hot!"

Grace didn't think she had ever seen Fauna dressed as risky as she was now. She knew that she and Fauna shared similar tastes in clothing and rarely dared to show off any "assets" that they had. In fact, Grace was pretty sure that they would both rather forget that they had such things to flaunt at all. It just made life more complicated.

But tonight was different. Tonight they were going to be Witches Gone Wild. Or as wild as they dared as two Auror Trainees who still had to work the next day.

Waving off Fauna's protests, she tried to push down worries about her own costume which was laid out on her bed upstairs. "Really. It looks great." Grace reached out and gave Fauna's hand a quick squeeze as she started up the stairs. "I promise you will feel less weird about it when I get my costume on."

Nearly taking the stairs two at a time, Grace called back, "Is everything ready? Anyone respond about showing up so---"

OOC: Let the arrivals begin!

"I cannot believe I let you talk me into this...were the heels an attempt to keep me from drinking because you know I can barely walk in them sober? Crafty Ferris, crafty and cruel," the currently blonde Flickwick shot a side long glance at her red and blue clad companion. He got to have all his bits and wiggles covered up by fairly normal clothes even if they were the tightest pants he probably owned. She, on the other hand, was running around in leggings, hooker boots, a crop top and... something that was supposed to be a cloak but did nothing to fight off the bite of the late October air.

Her whining was for show, mostly, as the approached the old Radford Estate, boots making a heavy clumping sound as they made their way up the steps. It was her own fault - first for not knowing enough about muggle culture and their Superheros, and secondly for not putting a kibosh on the whole affair when he pointed out most female Super Heroes wore cat suits or things that very closely resembled thongs. Of course, it had momentarily been worth it when she'd come out of the bathroom in full costume and his eyes had gone damn near buggy out of his head as she shook out the lightly curled blonde tresses. It was a small victory that felt meaningless the second they'd stepped out of the flat.

It hardly mattered now of course because they had reached their destination. She was going to socialize and have fun and take whatever ribbing Dion gave her for mildly resembling a hooker in stride. Reaching up to knock on the door she tried to keep her teeth from chattering, "I still say you should have gone as the Hulk. Show off those green abs proper like," she stuck her tongue out at him and bounced from foot to foot waiting for someone to answer the door for exactly three seconds before just poking her head in, "Helloooo in here, please let there be not naked Fayettes prancing about. I'm bloody freezing," her tone was good natured as she stepped fully in, pulling Kale behind her, "FAUNA"!

"I cannot believe I let you talk me into this...were the heels an attempt to keep me from drinking because you know I can barely walk in them sober? Crafty Ferris, crafty and cruel,"

"Whaaaaaat? What are you talking about?" Kale retorted with a devious, and completely unapologetic, grin "At least you can take yours off. These pants are so tight I think... wait... yep, there we go. I'm a woman now." He tugged at the crotch region of the pants, his face twisting in pain. "Besides, you are the one who insisted we come to a Superhero themed party. Not my fault that all the woman in comic books wear floss and pasties." He chuckled before adding "... And hooker boots."

Glancing at her from the corner of his eyes, Kale admired her... costume, yes, her costume. Aside from the crotch-crushing pants, his Spiderman costume was not much more than a teeshirt, some gloves and silly string (Which was lime green instead of white because he just couldn't be assed). Hers, however, was quite well done, especially considering she didn't even know who the White Queen was until yesterday. It fit her in all the right places too, though he would ever admit to thinking it. Things had been odd enough between them lately.

"I still say you should have gone as the Hulk. Show off those green abs proper like,"

"First of all, I am not 'hulking' enough... get it?" He chuckled and then added "And you just say that because you want me to be freezing cold like you... No thank you, ma'am." They were at the door now and Kale fell silent, letting her do the talking. He knew some of the inhabitants from his years at Hogwarts, but only in passing. His last couple of years had been a daze for him and he didn't remember much of anything, really. The only reason he was here is because Ruby asked him to. Something about him needing to get out more.

-POP!-

Eha apparated onto the estate's front step just in time to catch the door before Spiderman could close it. Several glass bottles rattled in the paper sack she carried in the opposite arm, announcing her presence to the house.

Though she'd never she'd never admit it, Eha hadn't known what superheroes were until three days prior to the party. It wasn't exactly her fault. They were muggle things. Her family didn't do muggle things, more often than not, and certainly not in the halls of Drumstrang. But she'd wanted to go with the flow if that's what everyone else was doing, especially since she'd had her fun with the elaborate dresses and charms at last night street party. Luckily, she'd found something in a bin at a muggle store[1] that she could pull off using random pieces from her closet.

Grinning, Eha saddled into the entry hall with the bag of booze balanced on her hip. A witch in white, whom she didn't recognize, was throwing herself at Fauna. Eha stood on her toes to peer over the group and caught Grace's eye. "Yo. Happy All Hallow's. Brought the good stuff --" she held up the bag, which rattled again as half-a dozen bottles shifted inside "-- and plenty of it. Let's get this party started."

1.	For those of you who don't know, this is Gypsy from the Justice League and Birds of Prey

Charlie’s Costume
Charlie came from a purely magical household. He had absolutely no idea what a ‘superhero’ was. He had spent the majority of the past week scouring bookstores to find any mention of a superhero, because he really didn’t want to look like a complete fool at Fauna’s party. He had found very little in the way of fruition anywhere in Diagon; Flourish and Blotts only had the vaguest of textbook answers to his questions.

With a few transfiguration charms and a trip to the thrift store, Charlie felt rather happy with his rendition of a superhero. He truly hoped he wasn’t making a fool of himself with his costume. Truthfully, why would they even pick a muggle themed party? It made Charlie’s mind hurt just thinking about it. He never took Muggle Studies at Hogwarts, and his family weren’t anti-muggle, but that didn’t mean that they associated with very many of them.

With a loud -pop- Charlie found himself on the walkway leading to the house and almost decided to turn around and go back home. He didn’t bring anything, but when Fauna sent him the invite, she didn’t mention bringing anything… so he didn’t. He walked right into the house and his face immediately turned red. He had not gotten the superhero theme right… at all. Apparently a superhero was someone that showed off all their goodies and had flashy… colorful… queer costumes. Charlie really should have done his homework a little better.

“Uh… Hey guys,” He mumbled through the thick gray beard that adorned his face. Charlie had picked the most super hero he could think of and came as the late Albus Dumbledore. Oops.

"Dax, exactly where did you get these made?" Dion had asked, looking at his costume with an expression of considerable doubt. Dax, though he didn't show it, didn't exactly blame his twin. Dax read muggle comics; Dion did not, though he sometimes glanced through them. Dax's costume was recognizable and fit him quite well, the fabric clinging tightly to his muscular frame. The yellow knee-boots and bright "x" shape across his chest didn't quite suit his complexion, but whatever, right?

He didn't answer his brother's question, though, just strapped on the red slit visor. It was hard to see through it, admittedly, but thankfully spells could make up for that.

Dion hadn't had to dye his hair, at least. And he actually looked the part.

Not that his twin felt it. Dax ended up having to all but drag Dion down the stairs, and his brother took one look at the girls, flushed slightly, and sank down to sit on one of the old couches. This being the Radford house, the couch promptly turned over and dumped Dion on the floor before walking away.

"Yo, Fauna! Grace! Looking good, laaadies," Dax was, as ever, subtle in his approach. Thankfully, the visor hid the wink. Others had arrived in their delay, and he waved to them before turning to Fauna with the all important question:

"Fauna, you brought beer, right?"

A mouse one night and a superhero the next. It was a good job she had grown up amongst Muggles and had a corner-shop, otherwise she too would have had to interpret 'superhero' in a wizarding way as Charlie had. Though, to be honest, his costume rocked. Dumbledore was a real superhero.

She had managed to charm her hair at the front to white and adapt a headband and some leggings and t-shirt into a cobbled together form of Rogue from the X-men's outfit. It wasn't perfect, but it would do. Being a mouse again would have been simpler, but she hated a party-pooper.

"Hello!" She greeted on entry, and smiled at Dax's question, "Well, I did. By some small miracle, I thought I'd have to use a confundus charm on the man in the off license. I thought if we were going Muggle superheroes, you might want some genuine Muggle beer? Sorry, its a bit warm, needs a cooling charm." She plonked the plastic bags down on the table.

With a loud pop, Chris appeared onto the walkway outside of the house. The day before, he had been the White Rabbit at the Diagon Alley party. Now, he was appearing as a muggle superhero, Batman. Due to his time spent recently in Diagon Alley, and his occasional ventures into Muggle London, he was able to see what the muggles considered to be a superhero. With that in mind, he was able to choose a costume, based on that. It wasn't an entirely good costume at all. But, it was at least a half way good attempt.

It seemed kind of strange that he was going to so many parties all of a sudden. It never seemed like that much during his time at Hogwarts. Yet, it seemed to be occurring so much more often now afterwards. That might have just been him underestimating his time at Hogwarts, but he certainly had more time now to do so, even with his job at the Ministry. Despite how strange it was, he was happy to have attended yesterday's event, and now today's as well.

Chris walked up the walkway, and entered the house. Immediately, he noticed all of the other great costumes of the others in the room. Indeed, most of them chose popular muggle superheroes, just like him. Charlie wasn't dressed as a muggle superhero. Rather, he was dressed as a magical superhero. Dumbledore was certainly a great man. Even though he hadn't known the wizard directly, he had read and heard that Dumbledore was a good man.

"Hey everyone," he greeted once he saw all of them.

As Grace ran upstairs to don her outfit, Fauna greeted the first two guests, feeling better about the party idea after Grace's reassurance and seeing the costumes that Ruby and Kale showed up in. She hugged Ruby and said hello to Kale, vaguely recognizing him as a friendly bloke who'd been a Hufflepuff a few years ago.

More guests arrived and Dax and Dion made it down the stairs, Dax already spouting flirtatious comments.

"You too!" Fauna paused. "Um, gentlemen." That didn't quite work as a rebuttal to 'ladies', but she could hope her comment got overlooked when the couch dumped Dion on the floor. She turned and covered a laugh with her hand.

"In here," she waved everyone into the dining room, where snacks and colorful bottles of fizzy drinks (along with the more potent stuff, as promised) were neatly arranged atop a fussy lace tablecloth. When she'd set things up earlier she'd tried vanishing the tablecloth away, but the house elf kept whisking it back into place as soon as her back was turned.

"We have a bit of everything now. Thanks!" She gestured at Theta and Eha to put their bottles down.

"Ok, let me try to guess," Fauna stood there and peered at everybody. Despite the theme and despite being muggleborn, she was no expert on super hero characters, and hadn't even heard of the Silk Spectre (gasp) until she'd stumbled on her in an internet search for yellow and black costumes.

"Spiderman," she pointed at Kale. "Batman," she pointed at Chris. Easy!

"Someone from Xmen, and Xmen," she bit her lip at Theta and Ruby, unable to remember the specific names. "Cyclops?" She asked Dax.

"Eha, Dion, I'm not sure who either of you are but you look great," she smiled apologetically. She was impressed the Durmstrang graduate had made such an effort, considering she likely wasn't familiar with super heroes. And at least Dax had convinced Dion to dress up.

"And Dumbledore. I love it," she grinned at Charlie, oblivious to his unease with the number of new people around. Trust him to be unique!

Grace had managed to change into her costume faster than she thought possible, especially with the skin tight body suit that she had managed to squeeze into.

Luckily she had not needed to prepare much else because her hair was already red. So after slipping her boots on (which she had secretly been walking around in to practice a few times in the weeks leading up to Halloween), Grace had bounded back down the stairs as gracefully as possible to help Fauna greet their guests and see what everyone had come dressed as.

Seeing that Fauna had the greetings down pat, Grace helped those who brought drinks set them up with some of the other goodies that had been set up around the lower level of the house, which included a mixture of muggle and magical treats.

"I love everyone's costumes!" She exclaimed happily as she looked around. True, the theme could have been a little odd for some wizards who had spent most of their lives in the wizarding world, but she was glad that her friends had been able to go with it, even Charlie who brought a magical superhero to the mix.

Grinning, Grace also added to Dax's question. "And even after the beer is done, I have a very special concoction for us to drink." She pointed to a cauldron on the table and ominously said, "I've been testing some potions with some new plants that Bombay has introduced me too. Drink at your own risk...."

The past few months had been more different for the young witch than all seven years of Hogwarts schooling. Tears had been shed, goodbyes spoken with hopeful promises that there would always be room for listening ears and encouraging hugs. She was worried sick watching him leave, fearing the absolute worst could come of him heading to the Black Forest.

Her family had been there with open arms: Alfie, the once annoying prat of a brother, had become Alfie, the little defender brother who had learned to give space but to give hugs when she had a moment. The trip to Italy had been amazing and the final weeks in Calais prior to Alfie's return to school had been nice.

Then, September rolled around and the Delacroix-Blake household had grown quiet aside the rustle of domesticated animals and the washer going off. It was nice, Addie would admit, that Malcolm and her bonded so well and that their talks were something she'd always remember.

So, naturally, by the time Autumn rolled around, Addie missed her times at Hogwarts, missed Matty....missed /everything/. Her parents were growing worried but all of that changed with the Halloween invitation. The family saw her happy once again, bubbly and the Addie they knew so well. It had taken convincing from herself to the family but she had been able to make them understand her costume had to stand out. Clearly, being the daughter of Nightcrawler was a big deal to her and so, Maurice had tried his best to brew a potion to make his granddaughter the lovely Talia Wagner.

And so, Addie's arrival to the party was likely to cause a few turned heads as the former Hufflepuff showed up at the doorstep with bags of fizzy dark blue raspberry lemonade (she'd bought the entire supply out, mind you) that matched her midnight blue skin. "Guten nacht! Anyone gonna lemme in?" came her voice as her black booted foot kicked the door, indicating she needed help getting inside.

"Chris!" Theta greeted warmly with a quick hug.

Voices filled the air and Theta waved at, hugged and kissed on the cheek each of them depending on gender and how well she knew them.

Hearing a familiar voice and a bumping from outside, Theta hurried to the front door and pulled it open to reveal Adelia looking rather unusual.

"Addie! Ooer, you went all out on the costume! Here, let me help." She reached forward and tried to take something from her friend's arms, ushering her into the household amongst the others.

"These look great, Grace was just saying she'd cooked up something a bit potent, but by the sound of it we'll all be knocked horizontal by it." She led Addie to the dining room where she had just deposited her own contribution to drinks.

Ruby had been slightly worried when she'd seen that Fauna was actually in a dress - though less modest than what her friend usually wore did not involve skintight anything or hooker boots. Her fears were put to rest, however, as the others arrived. Dax and Dion were in the male version of catsuits and someone she didn't know in leather leggings and when grace emerged it was all put to rest because, well, she was in a catsuit and hooker boots.

It dawned on her then that Kale would only have the foggiest notion of who these people were and they might not remember him at all, so she pipped up happily, as she handed him something fizzy and bright green, "Everyone, this is Kale. Kale this is...well everyone," she grinned a little and started pointed people out, "There's Fauna, the twins Dax and Dion - Dion is the one who was just rejected by the couch and looking sulky," she sent a salute his way before scanning the room again.

"The Brew Mistress is Grace, Dumbledor is Charlie, Batman is Chris, Theta is the one with white bangs... Rogue, I think? Isn't that what you told me? And Addie...is the one who out did us all," she grinned as the two girls joined the group waving enthusiastically. She knew that Kale wasn't totally comfortable with this whole thing but they both needed to get out more. They'd been acting like an old married couple lately and it was getting weird. She eye'd Grace's cauldron, "You lot have to work tomorrow, you can be a trainee if you're blind or dead, so I might just be adventurous enough to take that challenge Eddy".