the insanity of a holiday;, marlene mckinnon!

Despite having been privy to the wonder of Hogsmeade for the past few years, it was impossible not to me awed at the sheer magnificence of the town. It seemed the seventh years weren’t the only ones determined to make sure the holiday didn’t just get forgotten due to the war. When else, after all, could celebrate, but on a holiday? Sure, there was no trick-or-treating. That was for the muggles, after all. But who better to prepare for a holiday celebrating the made-up, than the made-up themselves?

It made it, in a way, slightly scarier. The decorations that muggles would have laughed and jeered at were based off a very real threat, one that you knew existed. Chances were you’d even come across the creatures that were simply fairy tales to muggles. So the decorations depicting dragons and grindylows were instead skirted around in an involuntary defense rather than laughed at, because to the wizards and witches roaming Hogsmeade, they weren’t make believe.

But inside Gladrag’s Wizardwear, everything was glorious. The decorations weren’t meant to scare, but to entice – and Lily decided they were doing their job. Had she not already gotten her (relatively revealing) costume, she certainly would have bought it from there. Piles of costumes littered almost every surface in the shop, giving the appearance of disorder and chaos. Lily couldn’t help but feel that it suited the shop’s atmosphere extraordinarily well.

Besides, what was the point of Halloween, if not to create chaos?

Despite the shop being slightly crowded, it only took a minute to spot the familiar blonde, lingering in the back of the shop and looking very much like a fish out of water. The average onlooker might be slightly surprised, if he or she was aware of who exactly the two girls were, though such a concern was paltry to the girls in question.

”McKinnon and Evans? Shopping together?”
“Forget that, I’m more surprised Evans is in Hogsmeade without a Meadowes.”
“Why is McKinnon at a costume shop? I can’t imagine she’s going to the ball. Likes reading more than socializing, that one.”

But such unsurprising whispers went unnoticed by the redhead, coming to a halt in front of the smaller girl. Smiling, the first thing she did was reach out and take the girl’s hands in her own. There were times, after all, when one’s personal vendetta against having her space invaded fell to the wayside. Making one’s friend feel more comfortable was certainly one of those times. ”Marlene,” she said, voice loud to ensure she’d be heard in the jumble of voice, ”I’m glad you came.” Which was true, though she was also surprised. It had taken an awful lot of prodding just to get Marlene to ‘think about it,’ and Lily was fairly certain getting the girl to choose a costume would be much of the same ordeal – if not more so. After all, buying a costume would signify an acceptance of the fact that she would be attending the ball. Which, really, would be another battle altogether, and one she would thankfully pass off to someone else.

Letting go of her hands, Lily shifted so she could stand beside Marlene rather than in front of her, grinning widely as she surveyed the shop. ”Have you looked around yet? Seen any costumes you like?” The selection, from what she could see, was widely varied. Since she imaged a great deal of the students would be buying their costumes from there, though, she supposed that was for the best; no one wanted to be one of six knights, after all, in such a large group of students. With costumes ranging from various animals of both the magic and non-magical kind, various figures in history (from Merlin’s beard to a rather odd looking Elvis Presley wig), she was assured that Marlene would be able to choose a costume.

Or, at the very least, she would be able to find a costume that would flatter her, and then force her to buy it. Being manipulative was just a necessity when one was a female.

”Come on, then, we’ll get together the first round and then steal a dressing room for you.” Was it bad, she mused, to be so thrilled to be molding Marlene? As she picked up a rather interesting costume that was meant to be a mermaid, she could only conclude that despite it being bad, she was definitely going to have a lot of fun doing it.

Having already picked up a couple of costumes, her gaze lifted from the pile she was rifling through, bright with amusement as it met Marlene’s. ”Do you suppose I could get you into this?” Holding up the costume and laughing, she had already dropped the costume back down onto the pile before continuing, ”at the very least you should try on a revealing costume. Trying on the ones you’d never buy is most of the fun in costume shopping, after all.” Dropping another costume over her arm, she went and wrapped her free arm through Marlene’s.

”Let’s get you into a changing room. You’ve got to show me all of the costumes, mind you, and don’t worry about the fit. It’s easy enough to fix sizing and hemming; it’s the costume itself you need to look at.” Depositing Marlene in one of the dressing rooms with all of the costumes they’d picked out, she settled against the wall opposite the dressing room door to wait for her friend. It would certainly be fun.

Barring the mermaid costume mentioned in the post (omglolpoormarlene), I have compiled a list of costumes Lily's picked up. Feel free to have had Marlene pick up her own. xD

one!
two!
three!
four!
five!
six!

lolol tried to mix the sexy with the normal. it worked. sort of. either way lily is definitely outside cackling.

“Merlin, is that Marlene McKinnon? I didn’t recognise her without her face in a book.”

“What’s she doing here?”

Needless to say, Marlene McKinnon was exceedingly uncomfortable. Then again, any situation that couldn’t be solved with something studied from a book made her uncomfortable and unfortunately for her, they just didn’t make reliable books on socialising. So there she stood, as far back from the chaos of last minute shoppers as humanly possible, contemplating the pros and cons of disapparating far, far away.

Marlene was seriously considering it as the claustrophobia slowly crept over her, but she remembered she was there because she was waiting for Lily. Of course it was Lily that suggested they go shopping, slightly appalled that her Ravenclaw friend had yet to pick out a costume. Marlene actually feared for her safety when she informed the Gryffindor girl that she wasn’t planning on attending the ball. Out of fear of death upon looking at Lily’s expression, she had quickly changed her mind.

She sighed as she looked around the small shop bursting with costumes. They were all so... inaccurate. Marlene came to the conclusion that Halloween costumes fell into two categories: men’s costumes and sexy costumes. Lifting up a particular black and white costume in a bin nearest to her, she unconsciously shook her head in disappointment. Apparently even a costume depicting a skunk could be made sexy.

“Look at that, Marlene McKinnon out of her natural habitat. Someone call the RSPCA!”

If there was one thing that even the purebloods could agree on, it was that the muggle-raised certainly had the upper hand on insults and witty remarks. Even if those insults and witty remarks made her feel even more uncomfortable. Marlene wrung her hands together uncomfortably as she stood up on the balls of her feet – she was shorter than a great percentage of the population occupying the costume shop – to look for her red-haired companion. It wasn’t that Lily was late; Marlene just felt the need to arrive at destinations early, just in case.

As if on cue, Marlene spotted a familiar shade of red moving towards her. The shorter blonde girl gave her a timid wave just in case the red head hadn’t spotted her, but Marlene stood out like a dementor at a child’s birthday party. As Lily grasped her hands, Marlene gave what looked like an uncomfortable smile. It wasn’t exactly due to the invasion of her personal space, but to the general situation. The spectators were right; Marlene would much rather be curled up in an armchair, studying advanced potion theory. At least that was something she could wrap her head around.

Over the loud buzzing of the people around them, Lily spoke and Marlene gave a tight smile in response. “I almost didn’t, you know.” She sighed, looking around her, “I have a mountain of charms homework to catch up on, and it unfortunately won’t do itself.” Oh god, she really didn’t want to go to the ball, but at the same time, she didn’t want to hurt Lily’s feelings. The sheer persistence of the Gryffindor girl made it obvious to Marlene that it would mean a great deal that she attend the ball, prompting her to “think about it”, something that had led her here.

”Have you looked around yet? Seen any costumes you like?” Lily looked over to Marlene and the latter sighed.

“No, not really. There were a couple nearer to the front that weren’t too horrible but... Lily, must I really go to the ball? I can’t see myself having any fun.” She sighed dramatically, hoping to get her point across, but even then she knew it to be hopeless. Whether Marlene McKinnon liked it or not, she was going to the ball.

Forcing herself back into the present, she was greeted with the image of Lily grabbing a rather horrendous and inaccurate costume depicting what Marlene could only guess was a mermaid. Taking it from Lily, she held it up in front of her to get a better look, but her expression refused to change from something that represented horror and disinterest. She raised an eyebrow to Lily and put it back in the pile from where it came from, uttering a single word of protest.

“No.”

She meant for it to be quite threatening, but she was still suffering from the effects of sheer terror at the present situation and only managed a squeak. Marlene blushed slightly and crossed her arms, only looking up when Lily held up another one of her finds.

“Is that supposed to be an angel? Isn’t that quite religiously insensitive?” Lily laughed and Marlene hoped to Merlin that she wasn’t serious about getting her into the costume.

Marlene felt an arm worm its way into the crook of one of her crossed ones, leading her to one of the changing rooms. It seemed that the worst was yet to come, and Marlene shuddered to think how bad this day could actually get as Lily shoved her into the room with an assortment of horrid costumes. The door closed and Marlene deposited the hoard onto the hardwood floor.

“I hope you’re having fun with this,” She tried to shout over the closed door, “Because then at least one of us is.” Closing her eyes, she thrust a hand into the pile, emerging with a bright red costume that appeared to be based off the 1920s era in America. Taking as much time as possible, she changed out of her dress and into the beaded flapper dress, rolling the gloves past her elbows.

Adjusting the feathered headband, she emerged from the dressing booth barefoot, attempting to glare at Lily.

“This is ridiculous.” She uttered, fidgeting in the uncomfortable fabric.

This was going to be a long day.

“I almost didn’t, you know.” Lily resisted the urge to laugh at Marlene's answer. It certainly wasn't surprising, that statement of simple fact. The redhead figured she could list a thousand different things that the blonde would prefer doing to this activity. And the fact was that even if she managed to convince her friend to buy a costume, there was no certainty that she would even wear the thing and attend the ball. It wasn't as if Lily could force her, despite her entreaties that the night would be fun and entertaining for all. They weren't in the same house and Lily had her own plans to carry out that didn't involve Marlene.

But she would do her damnedest and then pass the gauntlet to the girl's housemates and other various friends. It would be the mission to bring the houses together: ensure that Marlene McKinnon bought a costume, and then wore that costume to the masquerade and enjoyed herself. They were only on the first step of the three part plan, but Lily had faith that everyone could rally around the unsuspecting girl and get her to participate in the night's events.

“I have a mountain of charms homework to catch up on, and it unfortunately won’t do itself.” Which, of course, seemed to always be Marlene's excuse, though the subject that the homework belonged to changed. "Marlene," Lily said, hoping in a tone that was stern, "you can do it later. I promise you, you will have time later to do homework." With that out of the way, Lily went on to ask Marlene if she had looked around and seen any costumes.

“No, not really. There were a couple nearer to the front that weren’t too horrible but... Lily, must I really go to the ball? I can’t see myself having any fun.” Lily rolled her eyes as Marlene sighed, debating for a second on how to answer the question before speaking. "You can't spend all your time doing homework. It isn't healthy, all work and no play. Though I admire your ambition and wish that I had some of it -- because despite being Head Girl, I really don't have a lot -- people are fun too. They're wacky and ridiculous and mean and fun, and without people you can't feel as much. Even just looking around at them, observing them, is part of feeling." Her gaze swept the room before landing back on Marlene, a smile lightening her face. "You can't have all the good emotions without the bad, and you can't have any at all if you don't watch and participate the world going on around you. So to answer your question, yes. Yes, you do have to go to the ball. Whether you have fun or not, it'll be an experience. And experiences are good for you. They're what shape you."

As time shifted and they were pawing through costumes -- or, more accurately, she was pawing while Marlene glanced and wrinkled her nose and occasionally picked one up -- Lily held up a rather awful (but very fun!) mermaid costume. Marlene took it, stared at it in horror, and then proceeded to place it back down on the pile of costumes. The only further thing she did was mutter "no." Lily laughed, pushing the mermaid costume out of the way to get to the one's underneath. "You'll have to pick one, y'know. It would go faster if you looked, too. Picked one you liked." It was said offhandedly, her attention focused more on the costumes than on Marlene.

She remained oblivious to the fact that Marlene had stopped looking at this point, and that it was only when Lily held up another costume that she looked up once more.

“Is that supposed to be an angel? Isn’t that quite religiously insensitive?” She laughed, draping the costume over her arm. "Marlene, no one is going to know it's you in the costume. No one is going to know you're being religiously insensitive except for you, and to be honest I don't think you would be the only one being insensitive, religious wise." Which, really, was true. She was going to be insensitive to Greek goddesses. What was one more person being insensitive to the true nature of their costume?

Depositing Marlene in one of the dressing rooms with a pile of costumes, Lily could only snicker at the shout that came from within moments later. “I hope you’re having fun with this, because then at least one of us is.” She really hoped Marlene never found out just how much she was enjoying it. However, she didn't shout back, instead pretending as if she hadn't the words over the din of the accompanying room.

Minutes later, when Marlene had yet to emerge from the dressing room, Lily was slightly worried that she had just Apparated to somewhere else and trekked back to the castle. It was when she was about to knock on the door and ask Marlene what was taking her so long that the door open. Marlene walked out, barefoot, dressed in a red flapper dress. Though it was obvious that the other girl wasn't comfortable in the thing -- her comment of "this is ridiculous" only served to further this certainty -- the dress looked amazing on the girl. Though it could be hemmed, the long blonde hair was practically made for the dress... and wasn't it a shame that Marlene wouldn't stand still?

"I'm sorry to say that you have to be comfortable in a costume to choose it, because I'd choose this one for you. But I can't choose for you -- but be warned that if you don't pick one within two hours, I'm going to pick for you. And it's going to be this one." She said it was appreciation, eyes roaming down the shorter girl's body as she spoke. Marlene was one of the only classically pretty girls she'd ever met, and the fact that she was oblivious to it just enhanced the beauty the girl held.

It would be a pleasure getting her into a costume.

"Try on a different one, then."