Hannah Abbott

Despite the fact that she had decided upon her costume almost immediately after getting the green light to host the party, Hannah still spent an inexplicably long time getting ready on Sunday afternoon. Now that she was dressed, suddenly Hannah wasn't sure whether the backless white taffata dress was appropriate; it was certainly somewhat on the revealing side. The blonde stood in front of her bedroom mirror for almost an hour, uhming and awing until eventually she decided to just go with it. A few charms to her hair, a touch of make-up and a small silver tiara perched on her head (and specifically charmed so as not to fall off) and she was ready to go.

Once the costume was set the Hufflepuff had only to turn up at the pub early in order to check that all of her instructions were being followed to a tee. They were - the cakes and biscuits she had spent all of the previous day cooking were set out for anybody who wanted them, the stage was set up ready for Katie and the Dolls and for the kareoke which would come later. It was perfect.

It didn't take long until people began to arrive in their droves, most of whom, Hannah was pleased to note were wearing costumes. Drinks were poured, Katie and the Dolls took the stage and people were even dancing! There wasn't much for Hannah to do and so the blonde grabbed herself a bottle of beer, already congratulating herself on her success and made to dive into the crowd, on the lookout for anyone she actually recognised.

Due to the fact that The Leaky Cauldron had been drastically understaffed since The Event and that she was also planning a party which was looking to be so much bigger than anything she had ever planned before, it was perfectly understadable that Hannah hadn't exactly had time to unpack since moving into her new flat. Sure, she had accioed the essentials from the bottom of whichever boxes they had been packed away in (something which, despite being effective was hardly the neatest way to go about getting whatever it was that you wanted) and so at least had her toiletries, cooking utensils and clothes (Hannah's necessities) but the rest of her belongings stayed packed neatly away in the boxes which cluttered up the flat.

However, with a lull in the customers and Tom's firm reassurance that he would be perfectly able to cope with the four patrons currently propping up the bar, Hannah had been ushered back to her flat in order to finally settle in. Of course, she had started with good intentions, as she did with just about everything, leaving the front door propped open, almost like an invitation to her neighbours, she got down to work. However, it wasn't long before Hannah found herself getting distracted as the first box she randomly selected to unpack contained all of her photographs and before she knew what she was doing an hour had passed and she was sat on her couch, still surrounded by boxes, laughing at photos of her, Susie, Ernie, Justin and Megs before the Yule Ball.

( Autumn 1997 )

( September 1997 )

( September 1st 1997 )

( August 1997 )

( August 2nd 1997 )

( Summer 1997 )

( May 1997 )

Despite opinions to the contrary (mostly eminating from the snarky Slytherins who considered themselves too good to be here in the first place), Hannah felt that her costume party was a good idea. It would stop bring people together, even if only for one night, help them to relax, get to know one another (if they didn't already) and hopefully keep them from worrying about what was happening and how on earth they were going to get out.

Even though she had hosted a few occasions at the Leaky before, Hannah had never even imagined something of this size. It was obvious, therefore, that she needed help. Fortunately, Hannah Abbott had plenty of friends she could call upon at just such a time. She'd already persuaded Katie Bell to perform with the two members of her band who were also stuck in the Alley but as for everything else? She was beginning to feel a touch overwhelmed. Luckily for the Hufflepuff, though, she had a friend who did plan events of this size for a living.

Which was why Hannah found herself outside of Borgin & Burkes, somewhere she very rarely ventured. Skipping right past the window and forcing herself not to look at anything inside, she made her way to the flat upstairs where Seamus dwelled. The blonde rapped three times on the door and then bounced on the balls of her feet as she waited for her Irish friend to appear.

The costume party Hannah was planning was coming along quite nicely. The blonde had not only arranged the entertainment (Katie Bell would be performing with two of the three members of her band) and refreshments (the event would be catered by none other than Hannah herself) but had also just put the finishing touches to her own costume. It hadn't taken much but now that it was complete she was ready to go about forcing everyone else into some sort of ludicrous outfit. Of course, the first person on Hannah's 'to torture' list was Nott and not only because he had doubted her ability to get him into an outfit in the first place. No, he would be working behind the bar for at least some part of the night in question and it was important that if the pub was hosting a costume party, that the staff actually be in costume.

Hannah knew that the Slytherin was unlikely to come up with something himself and was definitely not going to have anything appropriate with him, which meant it was down to her. Hence why she had been so delighted to find a man's kilt in her searches through the many boxes in her new flat. Merlin only knew where it had come from but Hannah just knew that it would be perfect. Nott was unlikely to agree something which was an added bonus.

"I have your costume," Hannah announced walking into the Leaky Cauldron, that afternoon, kilt clutched in her hands. She held the item up for Theodore to see and smiled. "You should go try it on, make sure it fits."

( May 1997 )

( Spring 1997 )

Okay I know these are hardly ideal situations but people need to look on the bright side! Since the War the Ministry's just gone from strength to strength and I just know that they're going absolutely everything they can in order to get us out, which means that it's only a matter of time. Until then, though, we're stuck here and we may as well make the most of it. And yes, before anyone says anything, yes it's easy for me to say considering that I live and work in Diagon all the time but that doesn't change the fact that I'm tired of reading everyone complaining.

I'm living in the Libertas flats too. Although, I bought mine before all of this happened but that's neither here nor there. I'm in 2C, right next door to Ernie, should anyone want to pay me a visit. I have all of my belongings, unlike most people, so if you're in need of...something...anything please feel free to ask me! Since it happened I've mostly been working and trying to help with the food problem. I offered to make chapulines or a caracoles soup but apparently "we're not that desperate yet", never mind the fact that both of these dishes are delicious! Most of our staff weren't in the Alley the day it happened so we're a little understaffed and I haven't even had the time to properly unpack yet.

On a completely different topic though, I see a lot of people are thinking about hosting flat parties and I was actually considering hosting one big party at the Leaky so as not to exclude anyone. It's still in the planning stages at the moment but it's going to be a costume party (yes, costumes are mandatory and if you need help then I'm more than happy to help out - I'm a dab hand with sewing charms) and there may well be a surprise when it comes to the entertainment - don't want to ruin it too soon.

( Spring 1997 )

( She hadn't seen the Slytherin in six years and considering the fact that the last, and only time, they'd had any sort of in-depth discussion Theodore had all but accused her mother of stealing magic from Purebloods because she had the 'misfortune' of being born to Muggles the blonde had absolutely no friendly intentions towards him. )

( New Year 1996 )

( Christmas 1996 )

( Winter 1996 )

( Winter 1996 )