21. Chapter 21

They descend the stairs leading to the common room, Rey in her starry blue dress, Jannah in her golden suit, Tallie in flowing black robes woven through with sequined zodiac patterns, and Jess in skintight emerald green.

The boys in their year clap and whistle upon seeing them; Rey and the other girls hoot right back. She and Finn point at each other and snigger.

"Hellin's so lucky," Finn says with an exaggerated sigh, crossing his hands over his heart.

"We're only going as friends, I already told you," Rey says. "Rose is the lucky one."

Finn's chest puffs up with pride. He does indeed look very handsome in his purple suit. Only...

"Finn," Tallie groans, catching sight of his wrists. "Gobstones-themed cuff-links? Really?"

"It's a great game," he stubbornly insists.

The Gryffindors leave their tower in high spirits, and it's not long before they're joining the crush outside the Great Hall. Rose elbows her way over to Finn and Rey. sparkling and gorgeous in a frilly, off-shoulder dress that's a wash of different colors perfectly imitating the sky at sunset, and Rey thinks that Finn just might be the lucky one, after all.

"Hang on, I see Seff," Rose says after their little trio is done congratulating one another on cleaning up so well. "Hellin!" She waves frantically, raising her voice to be heard over the buzzing crowd. "Hellin, over here!"

Seff shuffles forward with a bashful smile and an awkward wave. He's wearing traditional formal robs in a muted burgundy hue, his hair slicked back with what has to be a ton of pomade to be capable of taming those blond curls.

"Hi," he says shyly. "You look nice."

"Thank you," Finn, Rey, and Rose chorus.

Then all four of them, including Seff, burst out laughing.

"Students, your attention, please." Mon Mothma's commanding tone rings out from where she's standing by the closed doors that lead into the Great Hall. The hubbub instantly tapers off. "You will file into the Great hall in an orderly fashion, proceed to your desired table, and wait for Headmaster Kenobi to give his address. There will be no pushing or running. This is a formal event to celebrate an important milestone in our fine institution's history, and you must comport yourselves in a manner befitting said institution." She watches imperiously as the prefects organize their schoolmates into rows. After a while, she gives a satisfied nod and flicks her wand in the direction of the doors, which spring open, and people begin filtering inside as the music starts up and—

— and, when Rey enters the Great Hall, it's like she's walking into an ocean of stars.

No expense had been spared in decorating the vast chamber for the occasion. The enchanted ceiling mirrors the dark, cloudy heavens that preside over Scotland at this hour, but the thousands upon thousands of floating candles shed bright silver light instead of their usual yellow flames. Lining walls glowing softly with the colors of the Aurora Borealis are huge, glittering ice sculptures that depict all eighty-eight known constellations— a bird of paradise, a centaur, a woman wearing the Southern Crown, a dragon, a bear and its cub, a porpoise leaping from the waves below the Argonauts' ship, Orion the hunter, and so much more. Although the High Table where the Hogwarts faculty are seated is still intact, the long house tables have been done away with, replaced by dozens of smaller round tables draped in white cloth that are strewn all over floors charmed to look like a clear night sky replete with bright stars and even brighter planets.

There's a wide circular space in the middle that's been left vacant. "That's probably where the Shag Kava Band will play after dinner," Seff tells Rey. As of now, there's only orchestral music, wafting down from an unseen source in the rafters. "D'you think you might want to dance?"

Rey stares at him in horror. "Do you?"

"No," he says, looking relieved. "I've got two left feet, me..."

"What are the two of you on about?" Tallie demands. "Of course we're dancing." She swats her date's arm. "Keyan, tell them we're dancing!"

"We're dancing, mates," Keyan says to Seff and Rey in long-suffering tones. He's one of the school heartthrobs, with shaggy brown hair, deep-set green eyes, and a tall, athletic frame; like Tallie, he is almost too good-looking, chiseled features perfectly symmetrical.

"Dancing?" Rose scoffs once Tallie and Keyan are out of earshot. "Don't make me laugh."

"I don't know, I think it'll be fun," Finn ventures.

"Finn, no, don't say that!" cries an aghast Rose. "Anything but that, Finn!"

"C'mon, Rose, you haven't seen my moves yet..."

Someone calls Seff's name. Rey turns to see her date's housemates— Pamich and Reeqo— waving them over to their table that has four vacant chairs. Rose's housemate, Jysella, is there, too, sitting beside Reeqo.

As she and her group cross the hall to join Pamich, Reeqo, and Jysella's table, Rey is struck by how not self-conscious she is. She had expected to hate being all made up, just like last time, and to not feel worthy of such a revealing, elegant dress. But there's none of that now. It is newfound, this confidence in her body, this not shying away when other people turn and stare.

She thinks that she might have an inkling as to why. It's because she knows that someone wants her, that someone has kissed her all over, again and again and again. He may not care that she's here with somebody else, but she has definitive proof that he finds her attractive.

She can't wait to see him. Can't wait for him to see her.

And she's just about to sit down when he arrives.

Professor Solo enters the Great Hall through a side door up front, near the High Table and less than twenty feet from Rey's. The instant her gaze lands on him, she freezes in her tracks.

And, upon catching sight of her, so does he.

Save for a few strands spilling down to frame his brow, Solo's thick, dark hair has been pushed back and sculpted into glossy waves, the ends curling at the high collar of a tailcoat trimmed with dusky gold brocade. From underneath the coat peeks a matching vest and a pale gold cravat, layered over a white shirt. The top half of the ensemble accentuates the way his broad shoulders and powerful chest taper into a lean waist and rangy hips; in the same vein, his formal, slim-fitting black trousers emphasize his long legs.

The overall effect quite robs Rey of breath.

He's so fit. She can't believe she's slept with someone so fit.

And neither can she believe how he's staring at her with his mouth hanging slightly open. How he's staring at her like she's the only other person in the whole room.

It's everything that Rey had hoped for, but she can't count it as a victory— because she's utterly certain she's looking at him in the exact same way.

She can't move and she can't think. Not when his dark eyes are burning into hers across the star-strewn space between them.

"Rey?"

The sound of her name pierces through the moment like a needle popping a balloon. She comes back to herself— comes back to the real world— and Seff is holding a chair out for her, regarding her with a quizzical expression.

"Sorry, it's the walls, they're so pretty it's hypnotic," she babbles, settling into the proffered chair. "Did they use a Color-Changing Charm, do you think?"

Seff takes his seat beside her, launching into a rundown of the efficiency per square meter of the Color-Changing Charm versus the Dancing Lights Spell, and Rey barely listens. She sneaks a glance at Professor Solo just in time to see him resume walking to the High Table, a thunderous scowl on his face.

She wonders about the reason for such a look. Maybe he doesn't want to be here. It's hardly the kind of event a private person such as him would enjoy.

The music comes to a stop when Obi-Wan rises to his feet. "A pleasant evening to all of you! Firstly, I would like to congratulate everyone— students and faculty alike— for surviving exam week!" Groans ripple through the hall. "Some of us may be a bit worse for wear—" His twinkling blue eyes dart to Professor Hux, who has yet to remove the plasters on his face, and Rey sinks a little lower in her seat as Finn and the others grin and applaud her silently— "but we have made it through nonetheless! Tonight, we shall be taking our hair down, and it is well-deserved. One thousand and twenty-nine years ago, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin all gathered together with a dream..."

As Obi-Wan drones on about the founding history of Hogwarts, Jysella leans over to Rose and Rey. "Professor Solo is especially handsome tonight, isn't he?"

"He is!" Rose giggles while Rey suddenly finds the nonexistent patterns on the white tablecloth to be of great interest. "Like Mr. Knightley in Emma."

Jysella blinks. "Who?"

"Oh, it's a Muggle film," Rose says with the airy superiority of a pureblood explaining non-magical things to fellow purebloods that Rey's always considered so endearing. "Professor Solo looks like he walked right out of it— so dashing—"

While Rose proceeds to explain the movie's plot to an intrigued Jysella, Finn shakes his head and mutters to Rey, "Why do I feel like I'm going to have to spend the rest of my life watching Jane Austen adaptations on loop?"

"Because you are," Rey deadpans.

Despite the mock shudder that Finn issues, there's no mistaking the lightness that invariably comes over him whenever he talks about his future with Rose. To love someone like that, Rey thinks, a thread of wistfulness snagging at her heart, and her gaze flits, unbidden, to Ben Solo.

He's sitting beside Chewie and appears to be giving all of his attention to Obi-Wan at first. As she watches, though, he looks down at the table, and after several beats—

— he lifts his head and their gazes collide.

Rey's first instinct is to break eye contact, embarrassed to have been caught in the act of gawking at him. But she doesn't. She holds his gaze and he holds hers, and she wants nothing more than for the two of them to be alone together. Not even for anything physical, really. She just wishes that she could be by his side and listen to his soft, deep voice and have him smile at her, that lopsided little smile that always seems so shy, somehow, and so hard-won.

"I do believe I've prattled on long enough," Obi-Wan concludes. "Now... we feast!"

The headmaster snaps his fingers and the orchestral music starts up again as dinner blossoms on the table in the form of goblets of apple cider and pumpkin juice, roast turkey with sage and onion stuffing, cuts of charred and juicy steak, several varieties of potato dishes and grilled vegetables, ham and split pea soup, cream of mushroom soup, Cornish pasties, lamb chops, pork stew, a salad of green beans and tomatoes liberally sprinkled with blue cheese, and a magnificent Beef Wellington, with layers of flaky pastry melting in the mouth to reveal an explosion of truffles and foie gras.

It's not that thoughts of Professor Solo are completely driven from Rey's mind, but... well, the food is very delicious. She eats her fill while chatting with the other people at her table and there's this one moment where she casts another furtive glance to where the teachers are seated, her cheeks bulging with mashed potatoes; Chewie is talking to Solo, who is nodding along but staring directly at her.

A hint of an amused smirk flickers at the corner of his mouth.

And that's when Seff leans in close to whisper, "Rey, you've got gravy on your cheeks."

"Oh—" A mortified Rey takes the napkin that Seff offers and dabs it gently on her face, careful not to rub away Jess' hard work on her makeup.

When she looks back at Solo, he's scowling again. Glaring at the carved roast turkey on the High Table like it's not dead enough and he's aiming to finish the job.

Before she can even wonder what's wrong this time, there's a screech from Tallie and Jess' table.

"My Everlasting Eyelashes fell into the soup!" Tallie wails. "My life is over!"

Finn and Rose collapse from laughing. It's like a domino effect; soon their entire table is bursting with mirth. Rey shakes her head, but— when Jess levitates the false lashes out of the soup bowl and ends up dropping it in her own goblet of pumpkin juice— Rey can't help but chuckle as well.

Once everybody's had their fill of the savory dishes, Obi-Wan snaps his fingers again and desserts appear on the tables. It's a dizzying array of apple pies, jam donuts, chocolate gateau, blancmange, various flavors of ice cream, rice pudding, fudge, and little white cakes adorned with tiny golden stars.

Rey can only blink at first, flabbergasted by what is the most luxurious Hogwarts feast she's ever experienced to date. Then she digs in.

"Wow." Pamich is regarding her with amazement. "You go, Niima."

"I don't know how you do it, Rey." Jysella pushes away her half-eaten blancmange. "I couldn't possibly take another bite."

"It's Rey's superpower," Finn tells the group. "Devouring everything in sight." They all laugh and Rey grins, not even the slightest bit abashed. She likes the people at this table. She likes the food. She likes this evening.

She's glad she went to the ball.

After the plates have been cleared, the lights abruptly dim, plunging the Great Hall into a silvery gloom woven through with the jeweled radiance of the Aurora Borealis that paints the walls. A huge spotlight falls on the center of the circular dance floor, followed swiftly by puffs of colored smoke. As the students whisper excitedly among themselves, a platform rises from the mists; standing on top of it are the silhouettes of three wizards and one witch, each one dressed in shiny robes and holding a different musical instrument.

Obi-Wan's sonorous voice booms from the front of the hall, introducing the Shag Kava Band. A collective raucous cheer rises up from the student populace as the hovering candles regain their former brilliance and the band immediately launches into the opening strains of "This Is the Night." All of a sudden, a good majority of Rey's schoolmates are leaping out of their chairs and rushing to the dance floor— among them are Reeqo and Jysella, and Pamich and her date.

"Rose, c'mon," Finn wheedles, already on his feet and holding his hand out to his girlfriend in a heartfelt plea. "You love this song!"

And, to Rey's immense surprise, Rose reluctantly stands up. "Fine," she huffs, intertwining her and Finn's fingers together. "But I'll only embarrass you."

"You could never," Finn solemnly vows. He tips Rey a wink before he and Rose vanish into the crowd surrounding the stage.

"I actually thought they'd try harder to convince you to join in," Seff remarks.

"Nah. They know me too well," Rey quips.

"It's always been the three of you since first year, yeah?"

"I suppose so. We all wandered into the same compartment on the Hogwarts Express."

"And then in second year you fought the giant spider in the forest." Seff wags an eyebrow at her. "Or is that just a rumor?"

Rey snorts. "There wasn't a lot of fighting the acromantula. We just ran, mostly."

Seff shakes his head. "What is it with you and encountering monsters in the woods, anyway?"

A very different type of encounter— definitely not the type that Seff meant— flashes through Rey's mind. The rain, the yew tree, Ben Solo's lips on hers, his knee between her thighs, his low growl of a voice calling her dirty girl.

She remembers thinking, right in that split second before he kissed her, how wild his eyes were, and how he could cause more trouble for her than the manticore ever would. She supposes that in this way Solo is also something of a monster, but then— what does it say about her, that she gravitates to the monstrous?

"Dunno," Rey tells Seff, answering his question after a beat too long. "Maybe I'm cursed."

He laughs. She relaxes a bit, fighting every urge to glance in the direction of the High Table again, and they spend the next several minutes just talking, heads bent close together in order for them to hear one another over the music.

In hindsight, Rey's luck had probably always been fated to run out eventually.

"Why are the two of you just sitting here?" Tallie demands, marching over to position herself in front of them with her hands on her hips. She's flanked by Jess and Kaydel.

"Er, because we're not really big on dancing?" Seff replies like he's hazarding a guess.

"That absolutely will not do." Tallie grabs Rey's hand and a giggling Jess and Kaydel take Seff by each arm and, before Rey knows it, she and her platonic date are being hauled onto the dance floor.

"Rey!" Rose beams at her, uncharacteristically giddy and flushed. "You decided to join us, after all!"

" Decided isn't the term I'd use," Rey grumbles. She's all for slinking back to her table but, just at that moment, the Shag Kava Band segues into their most popular hit and she swears that her eardrums nearly shatter from how loudly the people around her scream.

The wall of bodies closes in, moving to the rhythm with carefree joy, leaving no clear path of escape. Rey and Seff look at each other helplessly.

"This is happening, mates," Finn informs them with a wide grin, bobbing his head to the beat. "Just do what I do!"

Then he pulls off a complicated, shuffling, arm-waving sort of maneuver that Rey knows she'll never be able to do in a million years. She's never danced in her life. She hates this.

But, in truth, it's hard to not get swept up in it. Everyone's jumping around, limbs flailing in time to the music that permeates the air in a lively, frenetic tempo. Colored smoke continues to curl from the stage, entangling the crowd as candlelight like starlight glitters on and on.

When Rey finally gives in and offers a half-hearted rendition of the simplest move that she sees being made, the other Gryffindors clap and hoot like she's just caught the Golden Snitch.

"No, Rey, I've lost you," Seff groans.

But he soon starts tentatively dancing as well, which prompts another volley of deafening cheers from the nearby Ravenclaws.

And it is actually kind of fun, and Rey's moves start getting more and more outrageous after it becomes clear that no one is laughing at her— or, to be more accurate, that everyone's being just as silly as she is. She grabs hold of Rose's hands and they twirl, giggling, and as Rey is swung around the crowd shifts and there's a gap that gives her a clear line of sight to the High Table, and she sees Professor Solo.

Most of the teachers are sipping goblets of wine and talking among themselves and shaking their heads at their students' antics. At first glance, Solo appears to be doing the same, but Rey knows those eyes and she knows that wry smile, and perhaps it's the adrenaline rush talking but she knows that his look is for her and her alone.

She wrinkles her nose at him. His shoulders shake in laughter that she wishes she could hear.

And then the Shag Kava Band starts to play a softer, more dreamlike kind of song. The kind of song you slow-dance to.

"Like a meteor cutting across a starless night," croons Taybin Ralorsa, the lead singer, "he brightens up my darkest hour..."

All around Rey, people move to hold their dates close, swaying to the romantic melody. She and Seff are left to blink awkwardly at each other, standing still.

"D'you want to just sit down?" he asks, his face turning red.

"I..." Rey trails off. She looks over at the High Table again.

Solo is standing up. In long, measured strides, he leaves the Great Hall through the same side door that he entered, without sparing another glance in her direction. Almost before she knows it, he's gone.

Rey turns to Seff. "I have to— to go take care of something," she blurts out. "I'll be right back."